The question about the ITR password may arise if you have filed your income tax return and are now in the post-filing process. The income tax filing is not a one-step process, it requires you to go through various steps during the filing and then also you need to e-verify the filed return through the same portal. The e-verification ensures that the data submitted by you, received by the Income Tax Department and the acknowledgement sent to you are in consonance with each other. For this, you need an ITR Password, which protects the acknowledgement and gives you access to the secret code which is essential for the e-verification of your ITR Filing.

--------------Blog Contact Form-------------

What Is ITR - V or Acknowledgement?

The ‘V’ in ITR - V is the abbreviation for Verification. It refers to the verification of the Income Tax Return Filed by the assessee. This is a one-page document which is also known as the Acknowledgement and requires the ITR Password for the access. It contains the information of the assessee including the name, date of birth, address, and the category of applicable income tax. The acknowledgement declares that the Income tax department has received the return of Income from the assessee for the present assessment year against the mentioned particulars. It also has information regarding the computation of income tax based on the gross total income of the assessee. The most critical information on this acknowledgement or ITR - V is the receipt number that you need for the e-verification of the filed return.

How to get the Acknowledgement Number?

When you file your income tax return, the Income Tax Department issues an acknowledgement number for that return. The assessee receives this acknowledgement number on his registered e-mail address. But the file is encrypted for confidentiality purposes. The assessee needs a password to access the contents of this file. The ITR password for the acknowledgement is a combination of your PAN Card Number and Date of Birth. If your PAN card number is ABCDEFGHIJ and the date of birth is XX/YY/ZZZZ then the password to open acknowledgement will be ABCDEFGHIJXXYYZZZZ.

• Find the E-Mail received from the Income Tax Department regarding the acknowledgement. You can do so with the help of the e-mail search tool.
• Find the attachment that contains the acknowledgement file.
• Download this file to your device.
• Open the acknowledgement file. It will pop up a dialogue box requiring you to enter a secret unique password.
• Enter the ITR password as mentioned above. It is the combination of your PAN Number and the Date of Birth.
• This will open the file where you can find the acknowledgement number.

Download Acknowledgement from E-Filing Portal

If a system error occurs during the time of file creation, downloading, uploading or encrypting, it can corrupt the file which makes it unusable. In case you are not able to access the e-mail or you received a corrupt file then you can download the acknowledgement from the e-filing portal using the following process-

• You need to click on ‘view returns/forms’ on the e-filing portal. 

• It will open a new screen where you need to select the current assessment year.

• This will show the data for the current assessment year. Here click on the ‘view filled forms’ button.

• You can download the acknowledgement from this screen by clicking on the ‘Download Receipt’ button.

• It contains the acknowledgement number which you need in the next step to verify the returns. You can open this file in the same manner as prescribed above using the ITR Password.

How to Verify ITR Using Acknowledgement Number?

You can verify the income tax return through e-verification. It is the most convenient and immediate approach to verify your ITR. To verify the ITR online, you need PAN Number, Mobile Number, Assessment Year, and Acknowledgement Number.

• Go to the home page of the e-filing portal using a web browser.
• Select the option ‘e-verify return’ on the home page. It appears in the quick links section.

• This will open a form where you need to enter your details to e-verify your returns.
• Enter the PAN Card Number of the assessee.
• Then, enter the current assessment year in the second option.
• Now, enter the acknowledgement number as received on the e-mail previously and opened through the ITR Password.

• Now finally enter your mobile number and click ‘continue’.
• This will take you to the next screen where you will enter the OTP received on your phone.

• This OTP is valid only for fifteen minutes. Enter it before it expires and click submit.

• This will verify your return and you receive the confirmation on your mobile phone and registered e-mail address. But if you are doing late submission then it will pop up to submit an application for the condonation of delay as well.

Verify Return using EVC (Electronic Verification Code)

You can also verify your returns on the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department using the electronic verification code. There are multiple methods to perform this task-

• Using OTP Received on Aadhaar linked Mobile Number
• EVC Generated through a Pre-Validated Bank Account
• EVC Generated through a Pre-Validated Demat Account
• EVC Generated through ATM
• Using Net Banking
• Using Digital Signature Certificate

EVC is a ten-digit alphanumeric code that you get on your registered mobile number and e-mail address during the e-verification process. To generate this verification code, you need the registered Bank Account, Demat Account, or ATM. This code remains valid for 72 hours. After the expiration of this limit, you need to generate a new Electronic Verification Code (EVC) again.

Why E-Verification of ITR is Important?

The Income Tax Department has prescribed a time limit for the verification of ITR (Income Tax Return) Filing. If you are unable to verify the return within the stipulated time, it will remain invalid. The prescribed time for the purpose of verification is thirty days from the date of filing of the return. The older timeline to verify the returns was one-hundred and twenty days. From 1 August 2022, the new timeline of 30 days is applicable, although the returns filed on or before the 31st of July 2022 can verify their return within 120 days. In case an assessee verifies the return later than the prescribed timeline then he needs to submit an application for the condonation of delay. In this application, he needs to furnish valid reasons for the delay in the verification of returns.

Conclusion

Using the processes described above, you can get the acknowledgement number for your filed income tax return, open the encrypted acknowledgement using the ITR Password, and verify the income tax return using the e-filing portal. In case you don’t verify the return within thirty days, your return will remain invalid and if you verify the same after the prescribed time limit is over, then you also need to submit an application for the condonation of delay. Without it, the Income Tax Filing will remain incomplete. There are also methods to verify the return using EVC (Electronic Verification Code). But to utilise the EVC method you first need to generate it using, a Bank Account, Demat Account, Aadhaar linked Mobile Number or ATM hence the straightforward method of using the acknowledgement number is the most convenient to verify the returns.