E-Verify Your Income Tax Return Easily: Step-by-Step Guide

Verifying your tax returns has become quite simple and straight-forward. Although you can still send your ITR to CPC Bengaluru by post, the e-Verification facility allows you to verify your ITR with ease. Once you have filed your ITR, you can follow some simple steps for the e-verification of your ITR. But before you e-verify your returns, you will need a few details handy.

• PAN: Permanent Account Number is a unique number for every tax-payer in the country.
• Assessment Year: It is the year for which you need to verify your returns. Do note that it is not the same as the financial year.  Financial Year or FY is the year in which you earn the income and AY is the year in which you pay the tax on this income. For instance, for income generated in FY 2019-20, the AY will be taken as 2020-21
• Acknowledgement Number: It is a numeric number that you can find on your ITR returns .
• Electronic Verification Code (EVC): It is a unique alpha-numeric code which needs to be generated by the tax-payer once the returns are filed.

To generate EVC, you can choose any of the below options.

• Via Net Banking Log in to bank account and click on the "e-Verify" link, usually under the Tax tab. As you click on this link, your bank's website redirects you to the e-filing portal.Once there, under the "My Account" tab, you will have an option to generate the Electronic Verification Code (EVC). The code will be sent on your registered mobile number and email-id.
• Via Bank ATM You can also use ATM's of some banks to generate the code. Go to the ATM of your bank, and after entering your PIN, select the "Generate PIN for e-filing" option. You will get the EVC on the mobile number registered with your bank account.
• Via Bank Account Number The IT department allows you to e-Verify your ITR through the bank account. Note that only select banks offer this facility. However, you must validate your bank account on the e-filing portal first. To do so, log in to your e-filing account and go to the "Profile Settings". You will have to enter details like your bank's IFSC code and name, your account number, and your mobile number.To pre-validate your account, your mobile number must be the same for your bank as well as the e-filing website. Additionally, the PAN number in your bank account must match the IT records. After pre-validating, go to the "My Account" tab and select the "Generate EVC" option. You will receive the EVC code on your mobile.
• Via Demat Account Demat Account holders can also use their Demat account details to verify their ITR and generate the code. However, they must also pre-validate their Demat account on the e-filing portal. In the case of a Demat account, you have to provide additional details like Depository Type, Client ID, etc. to pre-validate your account. After validation, the procedure to generate EVC and e-verify ITR is similar to that mentioned above for regular bank accounts.Once You have got your EVC, there are easy steps to e-verify your returns.

1. Step 1: Visit https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home
2. Step 2: Search for "E-verify" option and click on it. You can find it in the "Quick Links" section. Put in your PAN, the AY for which you need to verify the returns and the acknowledgement number to log-in.
3. Step 3: Once logged in, click on "My Account" and select "e-Verify Return" from the drop-down menu.
4. Step 4: You can see a list of your ITRs that are pending for verification. Click on the "e-Verify" link for the ITR you want to verify.
5. Step 5: On clicking the "e-Verify" link, the portal directs you to a page listing several methods for verifying your ITR.
6. Step 6: Choose the correct one and in the next page, put the EVC code generated to complete the e-verification process.

Make sure you see the acknowledgement message on the screen. You can also download this and keep it for your records.

There is another very easy way to e-verify your returns.If you want to use this facility, link your aadhaar with your pan . By selecting this option, you get an OTP on your mobile number registered with Aadhaar. Enter this OTP and click on the "Submit" button for your income tax e-Verification.

The Income Tax Department has made it convenient to e-verify your ITR. This article lists several options to e-Verify your ITR. Hopefully, this step-by-step guide will come handy for your income tax e-verification after filing your ITR.Ready to make the most of your money? Start your tax planning journey now!

The information contained herein is generic in nature and is meant for educational purposes only. Nothing here is to be construed as an investment or financial or taxation advice nor to be considered as an invitation or solicitation or advertisement for any financial product. Readers are advised to exercise discretion and should seek independent professional advice prior to making any investment decision in relation to any financial product. Aditya Birla Capital Group is not liable for any decision arising out of the use of this information.