Income tax dept to issue only e-refunds from Mar 1, 2019; bank account-PAN linking must

Come March 1, 2019 Income tax department will issue only e-refunds and that too these will be credited only to bank accounts linked with PAN.

In addition to that, you are also required to pre-validate your bank account with the income tax department e-filing portal to receive tax refund.

The income tax refunds will be credited only to bank accounts (savings/current/cash/OD) which are linked to PAN w.e.f. March 1, 2019. If your PAN is not yet linked with your bank account, you must provide the details of the same to your bank branch to get an income tax refund.


If your bank is integrated with the e-filing portal, pre-validation can be done directly through EVC (Electronic Verification Code) and net-banking route.

On the other hand, if your bank account is not integrated with the e-filing portal, then the income tax department will validate the bank account itself from the details filled up by you, states an advertisement by the department in The Times of India dated February 26, 2019.

The department has asked the taxpayers to link their PAN with bank accounts in order to get the income tax refund directly, swiftly and securely in their bank account.

Here's how you can pre-validate your bank account to receive e-refund from the income tax department.

Step 1: Go to e-filing portal www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

Step 2: Click on login here and enter your details to login. User ID is your PAN.

Step 3: Once logged in, click on profile settings and click on pre-validate your bank account.

Step 4: Enter your bank details i.e. bank account number, IFSC, bank name, mobile number and email id. Remember your PAN, name, mobile number and email id must match with the details as given in your bank account to successfully pre-validate your bank account.

Step 5: Click on pre-validate.

The income tax department will show you a message on your screen as follows: Your request for pre-validating bank account is submitted. Status if your request will be sent to your registered email id and mobile number.

Alternatively, you can once again go to 'pre-validate your bank account' option under 'profile settings' option to check the status of the same.

You can add or remove the bank account only after 24 hours. If the bank account validation is failed at bank, the same will be shown on the website.

Another thing to remember that no change of mobile number or email as mentioned will be permissible without revalidation of the bank.