EVC for electronically verifying Income-tax return

Notification No. 2/2015

EVC to verify Income-tax return

As per the above-referred notification, Electronic Verification Code (EVC) is a 10-digit alpha numeric code generated for the purpose of electronic verification of the person furnishing the return of income. The same is not applicable to assesse’s where a digital signature is mandatory i.e. a company assessee, a person required to get accounts audited as per section 44AB of the Income-tax Act and a political party.

With the help of the EVC, the return can be verified and there is no need to send ITR-V Acknowledgement to Bangalore.

The procedure and standards of EVC are as under:

a) EVC would be generated on the E-filing website.
b) Individual can verify his return or of a HUF of which he is a Karta through EVC
c) EVC will be unique for an Assessee PAN
d) One EVC can be used to validate one return of an assessee
e) The verifier can use more than one mode to obtain EVC and can generate EVC multiple times

Validation of EVC

The EVC used to verify Income-tax return will be validated against the EVC stored against the Assessee’s PAN at the time of generation. Only a valid and matchedEVC will be accepted. Invalid, already used and unmatched EVC shall be rejected.

4 Modes of Generation of EVC

1. Net Banking

a) Where the total income as per Income-tax return is greater than Rs. 5 lakhs and there is a refund claim, the verifier has to generate EVC through net banking
b) Specified Banks provide direct access to the e-filing website for account holders having validated PAN
c) When a user logs in via net banking and seeks redirection to e-filing, he/she will be redirected to the e-filing website where he can generate EVC

2. Aadhaar Authentication

a) A verifier can provide his Aadhaar number for linking with his PAN on the e-filing website, verified on the basis of his name, date of birth and gender
b) If the Aadhaar authentication is successful, the verifier’s Aadhaar will be linked to his PAN
c) An OTP will be generated and sent to the registered user’s mobile number as per Aadhaar records
d) The OTP is the EVC and can be used to verify Assessee’s Income-tax return
e) The Aaadhar OTP as EVC will be valid for 10 minutes

3. ATM of a Bank

a) Verifier whose ATM card is linked to PAN validated registered Bank Account can generate EVC through this mode
b) A verifier can access the ATM of the bank in which he/she has an account using an ATM (debit/credit) card
c) After due authentication by using ATM Pin at the Bank ATM, the verifier can select the ‘Generate EVC for Income-tax return filing’
d) EVC will be sent to the assessee’s registered mobile number with e-filing and can be used to verify the assessee’s Income-tax return

4. E-Filing Website

a) Where the total income as per Income-tax return is Rs. 5 lakhs or below and there is no refund claim, the verifier can generate an EVC on the E-filing website
b) EVC will be sent to the Registered E-mail Id and Mobile Number of the assessee with the E-filing website and can be used to verify assessee’s Income-tax return