Change in IT refund rule: Only e-refunds from March 1 onwards; Link bank account-PAN soon

New Delhi, Feb 28: In a major change in the way the Income Tax Department issues refunds to taxpayers, the refunds from March 1, 2019, onwards would only be made in the e-mode into bank accounts of taxpayers.

The Income Tax Department, in its latest public communication, said taxpayers should link PAN with their accounts.

The department said refunds will be sent to bank accounts as it will issue "only e-refunds from March 1, 2019." Link your PAN (permanent account number) with your bank account to get your refund directly, swiftly and securely, the department said in a public advisory issued on Wednesday.

It added the bank account could be either savings, current, cash or overdraft. Till now, the department used to issue refunds to taxpayers either in their bank accounts or through account payee cheques, in a case-to-case basis depending on the category of taxpayers.

The communication added taxpayers can check if their bank account is linked with their PAN by logging onto the e-filing website of the department--"https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/".

It said those who have not linked their PAN with their bank account should provide it to their home bank branch and also validate this over the e-filing website of the I-T Department.

Recently, the linking of the PAN with the Aadhaar-PAN has been made "mandatory" for those filing an Income Tax Return (ITR) and this procedure has to be "completed" by March 31 this year.

As per data updated till early this month, the I-T Department has so far issued 42 crore PANs, of which 23 crore have been linked with Aadhaar. While Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a resident of India, PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the IT Department to a person, firm or entity.

On February 6, The Supreme Court has said linkage of PAN with Aadhaar is mandatory for filing of Income Tax returns. A bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer said the top court has decided the matter and upheld the section 139AA of the Income Tax Act.

OneIndia News with PTI inputs