If you have been wondering why your income tax return (ITR) has not been processed yet or why there has been a delay in getting tax refund, first check whether you have e-verified your ITR. Although when you file your ITR on the income tax department's e-filing portal the taxman receives it, but the Central Processing Centre (CPC) starts processing it only when the ITR is e-verified.

If you do not e-verify your ITR, the filing process is treated as incomplete and your ITR becomes invalid.

"To receive refund, complete your e-filing process by e-verifying using Aadhaar OTP or netbanking," says the income tax department.

How to e-verify your ITR:

The income tax department allows you to complete the e-verification process using either Aadhaar OTP (one-time password), or pre-validation using internet banking, bank account or demat account.

You need to visit the income tax department's e-filing portal where you will see a red blinking section called "e-Verify Return" on the left side. You need to enter your PAN, assessment year for which the verification is being done (2019-20) and acknowledgement number.

Alternatively, you can also log-in with your PAN and password, then go to "My account" and then click "e-Verify Return". The new page will then display the file for which verification is pending. Click on "e- verify" where you will be shown three options:

1) I already have an EVC to e-verify my return.

2) I do not have an EVC and I would like to generate EVC to e-verify my return.

3) I would like to use Aadhaar OTP to e-verify my return.

EVC is nothing but an electronic verification code generated using any of the modes like Aadhaar, bank account, etc.

Click on the second option and generate an EVC using netbanking, bank account number or demat account. It is most likely that the income tax portal already has all these details with it as its mandatory for you to provide details of your bank account while filing ITR.

The easiest way is using the Aadhaar OTP sent to your mobile phone. The income tax department uses data from the UIDAI to verify your credentials. An email confirmation will also be sent to your email id.

In case of successful e-verification, an acknowledgement will be sent else ITR-V will be sent to you.