Nowadays people use
technology and send their documents to Chartered Accountants or consultants to
file their Income Tax Returns. Companies sometimes also arrange for a virtual
office or agent for filing of ITRs. These accountants then file the tax returns
electronically for the assessees, however, the work is not over with simply
filing the returns. There are certain steps to be followed after uploading the ITRs
online which can be summarized as follows:
1.
Obtaining
receipt of an acknowledgment of filing of ITR in Form ITR-V.
ITR-V
is a one page document pdf file which is generated as an acknowledgement email
from the Income Tax Department when you file your ITR without using a Digital
Signature Certificate (DSC).
2.
Verification
of the ITR-V.
This can
be done in the following two ways:
i.
By
sending the ITR-V to CPC Bangalore.
ii.
By
opting for e-verification in cases when the ITR has not been filed with DSC
(Digital Signature Certificate).
Further,
the following methods can be used for e-verification of ITRs:
·
Through
generation of Electronic Verification Code (EVC) on registered mobile number
and email of the assessee.
·
Through
EVC via Bank Account, Demat Account and AT
·
Through
OTP sent on mobile number mentioned on the Aadhar card of the assessee.
·
Through
Net Banking log in.
3.
Wait
for intimation from Income Tax Department under section 143(1).
Once your income tax return is processed, an email
is sent to the tax payer to intimate them about any tax or interest payable/refundable
and can be treated as completion of
assessment. It is also sent via Post before the expiry of one year from
the end of the assessment year in which the income was assessable. If there is no difference between
the income tax computed as per ITR and as computed u/s 143(1), then this notice
will serve as final assessment of the return, otherwise it serves as a notice
of demand or intimation of refund.
A number of problems are
faced by the people during the verification process as a result of which the
returns are just uploaded but not accepted. Some of the issues are mentioned as
under:
1.
Verification Method –
Dispatching ITR-V to CPC Bangalore:
This
is one of the most commonly used methods of verification.
The
address of CPC is given on Verification form along with clear instructions that
the verification form should be sent to CPC either through Ordinary Post or
Speed Post.
·
Sending
through Ordinary post generally takes multiple attempts until the post is shown
as accepted and is also difficult to keep track of whether the same has been
received or not, especially by elderly people.
·
Sending
through Speed post on the other hand proves to be a more costly alternative and
more over number of ITR –V sent and accepted differ and rejected one are not
intimated timely.
·
Moreover,
there is no way to prove that the Tax Payer has already sent the ITR as there
is no PAN reference.
2.
Verification Method –
E-Verification
·
E-verification by using an EVC has to be done within 72 hours
of generating the code after which the code expires. The code is sent to the
email address and phone number entered for filing the return and assessees who
are not tech-savvy such as the elderly face problems in such a case. Also, this method can only be used
if the total income of the
assessee as per ITR is less than Rs. 5 lacs and there is no refund claim.
·
The upper limit on a phone number or a single email address
usage is 10 assessees only and so accountants filing these returns face
problems in case their clients do not use emailing services.
·
If
the message regarding non receipt of such verification form is then sent on
such email and phone number, they fail to get noticed by people who are not
active tech-users such as the elderly or the uneducated.
·
If
the verification is done through Aadhar based OTP, as it is commonly done, the
same issues present themselves, especially if the phone number of the assessee
is no longer the one mentioned on their Aadhar Card or no phone number
mentioned on aadhar card.
·
EVC
generated through Bank Account/Demat Account/ATM/Net Banking is not preferred
by the tax payers since they require personal information to be shared online
which exposes them to high risks online.
It is for the assessee to
take following steps in time:
ü
Either
E verify with Linked Aadhar
-
No
discrepancy in Aadhar and PAN
-
Mobile
mentioned on Aadhar
ü
Send
speed post of ITR –V to CPC timely and see the message of receipt/ Non receipt
on their mobile from ITD.
ü
Check
the status of ITR receipt on Income Tax site on the link
https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/e-Filing/Services/ITRVStatusLink.html
Contributed by : Kashika Ahuja
