If you have an income tax refund due, then you need to make sure that the bank account you wish to receive the refund amount in is pre-validated on the income tax e-filing portal. If your bank account is not pre-validated on the portal, then you will not be able to receive the income tax refund due to you.
Along with the pre-validation of bank account, you will also have to ensure that your PAN is linked with the bank account in which the income tax refund amount has to be credited.
Abhishek Soni, CEO, Tax2Win.in, an ITR filing website says, “Pre-validation of bank account and linking of PAN with bank account (in which income tax refund has to be credited) are mandatory for receiving the income tax refund. If anyone of this not done, then the tax refund will not be credited into the individual’s bank account. The income tax department issues only e-refunds which are directly credited into the bank account.”
The income tax department had previously announced that from March 1, 2019, it will issue only e-refunds. These tax refunds will be credited only to those bank accounts which are linked with PAN and are also pre-validated on the income tax e-filing website.
Remember, the government launched a new income tax portal in June 2021. Due to various glitches on the portal, it may happen that your previously pre-validated bank account is not pre-validated on the new tax filing site. Thus, it is important to check and if required pre-validate the bank account again.
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How to check if your bank account is pre-validated
Follow the steps below on the new income tax portal to check if your bank account is pre-validated:
Step 1: Once you have logged in to your account on the income tax portal, click on ‘My Profile’ and select ‘My Bank Account’ shown on the screen.
Step 2: The screen will show you the bank accounts that are pre-validated and which bank account has been selected by you for receiving the income tax refund.
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How to pre-validate your bank account
In case you want to add the bank account details again due to a change in IFS code or want to add details of a new bank account, then follow these steps.
Step 1: Login to your account on the new income tax portal.
Step 2: After logging in, select ‘My profile’ which can be accessed by clicking your name on the right-hand side.
Step 3: On the screen, select ‘My bank account’. Select ‘Add bank account’. Enter the details – bank account number, account type, account holder type, IFSC. Once the IFSC details are added, the bank name and bank branch details will be automatically added. Do cross-check these details. The screen will also show you the mobile number and email address that is linked to the bank account.
Step 4: Click on ‘Validate’.
Once successfully validated, the bank account will be automatically added to your profile. You can later nominate the account (on the e-filing site) for receiving the income tax refund.
Due to glitches on the tax portal, it may happen that your bank account is validated but on the screen, it is showing as ‘Validation in Progress’. However, to check whether the account is pre-validated or not, click on the three dots on the right-hand side of the box in which the bank’s name is shown.
Then select ‘View Bank Details’, a pop-up box will appear on your screen showing the details of when the validation request was submitted and whether the bank account is validated or not and date on which it is pre-validated.
