ITR Process is not Complete without the Verification Process
The Income tax returns is the statement of the earnings from various sources of the tax liability, income thereon, the details of tax paid and any refunds that have to be given by the government. The process of filing the tax returns is provided by the tax department and other tax experts in the online portal. Many people are not aware that filing the income tax is not complete unless and until they verify the form. Those documents or Income tax returns form that are not verified are considered as defective forms and the taxpayer has to file the tax return once again.
Income tax returns
The Income tax returns or the ITR forms can be verified in two ways, either physically or electronically by sending the signed ITR-V to the CPC (Centralized Processing Center) in Bangalore. But the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) or individuals who file their tax return using the ITR-4 and must get their accounts audited must file the tax returns using the Digitally signed Certificate and they are not required to verify the returns because they are signed in the digital form. They can either verify the return form before uploading the form or after uploading the tax return form. If the form is uploaded, the taxpayer can verify the tax return for by clicking the ‘e-Verify return which is located under the e-file tab.
MODES OF VERIFICATION
The taxpayers can use the Aadhaar OTP or the Net banking or Bank Account validation or the E-verification or paper verification to verify the income tax returns form.
VERIFICATION VIA AADHAAR:
One of the processes of verifying the tax return is by using the Aadhaar OTP. TO do this, the taxpayer must have linked their Aadhaar number and PAN in the official website of the Income tax department. It is important that the mobile number of the taxpayer is linked to their Aadhaar card. If the taxpayer failed to link their Aadhaar number on the official website, they will notice a pop-up that appears on the screen whenever they login to their account asking to link the Aadhaar with the online portal. The process of linking the Aadhaar number is very easy, they simply have to enter their Aadhaar number on the given box and then it is linked with the site.
So to verify the tax return, an OTP is generated and sent to the mobile number of the taxpayer which they have linked with Aadhaar. So the taxpayer must provide the correct mobile number in the Aadhaar card. Once when the taxpayer receives the OTP on their mobile number, they can enter the password in the given column and click on the submit button. The required page will be displayed on the screen. The taxpayer must note that the OTP is valid only for ten minutes and if they fail to enter the OTP, they have to request the site to generate a new OTP.
NET BANKING MODE:
The taxpayer can use their net banking account to verify the return form, for this they have to login to the net banking account and select the Income tax e-filing tab, which will redirect the taxpayer to the official page of the Income tax department. Once when they enter the IT website, the taxpayer has to click on the View Returns/Forms to see their tax return form. And at the bottom they can find an option that says ‘Click here to view your returns pending for e-verification’ and then they have to click on the e-verify option. This is also an easy mode of verifying the tax return form.
VALIDATION USING BANK ACCOUNT:
Verifying the income tax return using the bank account is the new mode of verification introduced by the Income tax department. By providing the basic details of their bank account, the taxpayers can verify their tax return form. The basic details might include the IFSC (Indian Financial System Code), the account number, mobile number and the email address. The details provided by the assessee will be verified with the details that are stored in the bank’s database. The taxpayer or the assessee will receive an e-verification code in their registered mobile number and email address, using that they can verify the return. This mode was introduced by the Income tax department because there are many taxpayers who still have not received their Aadhaar card and that assessee who do not have the facility of net banking but has a bank account.
ELECTRONIC VERIFICATION:
The assessee can verify the tax returns details using the electronic verification code. Using this mode displays 2 options for the taxpayers. The first option is ‘I already have an EVC to verify my tax return’ and the second option is ‘I do not have an EVC and I would like to generate an EVC to verify my return’. Using the first option, the user can see a box on the screen where they have to enter the electronic verification code and click on the submit option, thus they can verify the tax return.
If the assessee selects the second option, they can receive an EVC on their registered mobile number and email address, but this option is available only for the taxpayers whose overall income is less than five lakh without refund. They have to click on the option; ’EVC to registered mobile number and email address’ and they will receive the EVC in their mobile number or email address. They can now enter the EVC is the provided column to verify the return. The taxpayer can keep a hard copy of the message for further reference.
All the above options will help in providing the tax return using the electronic mode. Apart from this process, they need not require to follow any other steps.
PHYSICAL VERIFICATION OR PAPER VERIFICATION:
The taxpayers who are unable to verify the tax return in the electronic mode can verify the tax return using the physical mode. To do the manual process, the taxpayer can download the ITR-V form and sign the return form manually and then send the tax return form to the Centralized Processing center through the postal service. The main important point is, the CPC in Bangalore must receive the ITR-V form within one hundred and twenty days from the date of the upload of the tax return, only then the tax return is considered as a valid tax return form.
The taxpayer must use blue ink to sign the ITR-V document, which is a one page document and must be sent to the CPC through the speed post or ordinary post, and they cannot use the courier mode to send the document. The ITR-V form downloaded from the official website of the Income tax department requires a password to open it. And the password to open the ITR-V document is the PAN number of the taxpayer in the lowercases along with the Date of Birth (DOB). Apart from the ITR-V document, the assessee need not send any other document to the CPC. To acknowledge that the sent document is received by the CPC and entered the details in their records, the taxpayer or the assessee will receive an email from the department of CPC stating that they have received and verified the tax return from.
CONCLUSION
It is mandatory that all the people should file their income tax return form for the financial year, irrespective of the fact that they do not have any taxable income. Filing the tax returns provide the taxpayer with many benefits like the visa processing, loan processing, carry forwarding, claiming of the refunds and so on. The tax return provides the overall income acquired by the assessee to that of the tax paid by them and it acts as a proof that can be submitted in any official entities for the process of verification. The process of filing is incomplete without the verification of the return form. The tax department has provided 2 modes through which one can verify the tax return, that is either through the physical mode or electronic mode. Once when the tax return is verified and registered in the database by the CPC in Bangalore, they will send a confirmation mail to the assessee.
Author Bio :
Anand Rajendran is a freelance writer living in Chennai, India. His interest in personal finance and budgeting began when he was earning an MFA in theater, living in one of the most expensive cities in the country (Chennai, TN) on a student’s budget. Today, he writes for a number of websites and keeps up his own Tax Consultancy Services named Uptra
Leave a Comment