Introduction
If you are expecting a refund on your Income Tax Return (ITR) for the assessment year (AY) 2024-25, you need to make sure your bank account is validated on the Income Tax Portal. This guide will show you the simple steps to validate your bank account so you can get your tax refund easily.
Changes in the Refund Process
Before AY 2024-25, you had to select a bank account in your ITR to get the refund, and this account needed to be pre-validated on the portal. From AY 2024-25, you can no longer choose a bank account for refund in the ITR. Instead, refunds will be sent to any pre-validated bank account on the portal. If you have several pre-validated accounts, the refund will go to one of them where the option to receive a refund is selected.
Refunds can be sent to these types of accounts:
- Savings Accounts
- Current Accounts
- Cash Credit Accounts
- Over Draft Accounts
- Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) Accounts
Other types of accounts will not work and will show an “Invalid Account” error. Refunds cannot go to bank accounts that are closed, dormant, invalid, under litigation, or blocked.
Steps to Validate Your Bank Account
To validate your bank account on the portal, you need:
- To be registered on the e-Filing portal.
- Your PAN must be linked with the bank account.
What to Do if Validation Fails
If validation fails, here’s what you can do:
| Reason for Failure | Action to be Taken |
|---|---|
| PAN not linked with bank account | - For a single account, contact your bank branch to link your bank account with your PAN, then re-validate it. - For a joint account, the portal checks the first account holder. If you are the second account holder, validate your single bank account or the bank account where you are the first account holder. |
| Name mismatch | - If your name on PAN is correct, contact your bank branch to update your name in the bank account to match the PAN. - If your name on the bank account is correct, correct your name on the PAN. Then re-validate your bank account once the names match. |
| Bank Account Number mismatch | Enter the correct bank account number and then re-validate your bank account. |
| Account number does not exist | Enter the correct bank account number and then re-validate your bank account. |
| Invalid IFSC | Get the correct IFSC Code from your cheque book, passbook, or bank, and enter the correct IFSC. Then re-validate your bank account. |
| Bank account closed / inactive / dormant / litigated account / account frozen or blocked | - If your bank account is dormant/closed/inactive/litigated/frozen/blocked, use a different bank account for validation. - If your bank account is active, contact your branch to find out the problem. Once your bank updates the details, re-validate your bank account. |
Important Points to Remember
- Only a pre-validated bank account can get the Income Tax refund.
- You can pre-validate multiple bank accounts and nominate more than one for the refund.
- You can nominate one bank account for the refund and another for EVC (Electronic Verification Code).
- EVC can only be enabled for one bank account at a time. If you enable EVC for another account, the portal will ask to disable EVC for the existing account.
- Note: EVC can be enabled only for banks that are integrated with e-Filing. You can find the list of these banks on the Income Tax Portal.
- The pre-validation process is automatic. After you submit your request, it is sent to your bank for validation. The account should be validated and updated in your e-Filing account within 10–12 working days.
Conclusion
Validating your bank account on the Income Tax Portal is crucial to get your tax refund smoothly. Follow the steps and fix any issues as mentioned to avoid delays and get your refund without any delays and promptly.
