Tax filing gets faster with OTP verification

 

On Monday, income-tax department has introduced one-time password (OTP) based e-filing verification system for taxpayers, which allows tax payers to validate their 

I-T returns instantly.

 

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified various ways through which ‘Electronic Verification Code’ (EVC) for e-filing and validating their income-tax return (ITR) can be generated.

 

The EVC or one-time password can be generated through internet banking, Aadhaar card and ATM among others. However to facilitate lower income groups, CBDT has said that any taxpayer, whose income is Rs 5 lakh or below per annum and has no refund claims, he can straightaway generate the EVC for e-filing and validating their income-tax return through their registered mobile number and e-mail ID with the department.

 

This simplified option, however, will be subject to certain “restrictions” prepared by tax official based on the taxpayer’s risk criteria and profile. It means if the tax official has some adverse observation against the some PAN number with income less than Rs 5 lakh, he or she will not be allowed to do the verification directly through their email and mobile number alone.

 

These taxpayers will have to go through the standard procedures like linkup through Aadhaar database, internet baking or the ATM. In case of ‘Aadhaar’ based verification, the OTP or EVC will be sent to the taxpayers’ mobile number registered with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) records.

 

“The Aadhaar OTP or EVC will be valid for ten minutes or as specified by the UIDAI,” the rules said. For those, who use ATMs, can login with their ATM PIN and get EVC generated for the validation.