From Assessment Year 2015-16 onwards, the Income Tax Department has extended facility of verifying and signing the Income Tax Return through the Aadhaar Card. The taxpayer would be required to link his aadhaar card with his PAN No. on the Income Tax Website and once this is linked, the taxpayer would be able to sign the income tax return through the Aadhaar Card.

The procedure to link the Aadhaar Card with the Income Tax Return has been announced by the Income Tax Department on 13th July 2015 and the same has been explained below in detail.

Procedure to link Aadhaar Card with Income Tax Return (ITR)

Once the taxpayer has e-filled in the income tax form on the income tax website – he is required to upload the same on the Income Tax Website.

After uploading the Income Tax Return online, the income tax portal will ask for the manner in which the taxpayer would like to verify the Income Tax Return. The following 4 options would be asked by the Taxpayer:-

  1. I already have an EVC and I would like to submit EVC
  2. I do not have EVC and I would like to generate EVC
  3. I would like to generate Aadhaar OTP to e-verify my return
  4. I would like to e-verify later/ I would like to send ITR-V

The taxpayer would be required to select Option No. 3. On selecting this option a One Time Password (OTP) would be sent to the registered mobile no. of the taxpayer.

The taxpayer would be required to download furnish this One Time Password (OTP) on the website and the ITR will get verified. No further action is required after this and the taxpayer can simply download the ITR-V.

There is no need to send the physical copy of the ITR-V after this as the ITR has already been verified from the Aadhaar Card.

If the taxpayer does not have an Aadhaar Card or he does not intent to sign the ITR with the Aadhaar Card, they still do have the option of signing the ITR through Digital Signature or sending the physically signed copy of the ITR V to CPC, Bangalore.

E-Verification of an already uploaded Return

If the ITR has been uploaded on the income tax website but has not been verified, the taxpayer has the option of either sending the signed physical copy of the ITR to the Income Tax Dept or to e-verify the already uploaded ITR at a later time.

To e-verify an already uploaded return online, the taxpayer would be required to login on the income tax website whenever he intends to verify the ITR and then click on the e-file. The ITR return which was uploaded in the last 120 days but has not yet been verified would be displayed. The taxpayer would be required to click on e-verify and 3 e-verification options would be provided:-

  1. I already have an EVC and I would like Submit EVC
  2. I do not have an EVC and would like to generate EVC
  3. I would like to generate Aadhaar OTP to e-verify my return

To authenticate the ITR with the Aadhaar Card, the taxpayer would be required to click on the 3rd option, and then a One Time Password (OTP) would be sent to his mobile no. which he would be required to mention on the income tax website and the ITR will then get e-verified.

Procedure to verify the Income Tax Return (ITR) through EVC

After submitting the Income Tax Return, the taxpayer has the option of verifying the ITR through the EVC. The taxpayer would be required to click on the option to generate EVC.

The EVC would be sent to the registered mobile no./ email id of the taxpayer and on submission of the EVC, the ITR will get verified and no further action is required in this case.

The option to verify the income tax return through this manner of EVC is only available for taxpayers whose Total Income is less than 5 Lakhs and there is no refund

Procedure to verify the Income Tax Return (ITR) through Net Banking

To verify the Income Tax Return through Net Banking, the taxpayer would be required to login to the e-filing portal through Net Banking and upload the Return. On uploading the Return, 3 options would be displayed to the taxpayer i.e.

  1. I would like to e-verify my return now
  2. I would like to generate Aadhaar OTP to e-verify my return
  3. I would like to e-verify later/ I would like to send ITR V

The taxpayer is required to click on the 1st option i.e. I would like to e-verify my return now and the acknowledgement would be displayed. No further action is required in this case as the taxpayer has already filed the ITR through the Net banking portal.

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