The Income Tax Department issues refunds only as an e-refund to the assessee. Issuing refunds by cheques has been discontinued. To receive the refund amount, the assessee's bank account should be linked to his permanent account number (PAN) and should have been pre-validated on the income tax e-filing portal.

?Access I-T portal
You are required to visit the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department at https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. To access the portal, enter user name (PAN of the assessee) and password along with Captcha code to log in. Those who have not registered with the I-T e-filing portal need to register themselves beforehand.

ThinkStock Photos
ET Prime

PEOPLE
The Bengaluru boy who busted Dieselgate
The life of Hemanth Kappanna — from cash-strapped student in the US to GM’s...

FMCG
How Prataap Snacks lost its way
Soon after its fabulous listing in 2017, Prataap Snacks began to slip on th...

UNDER THE LENS
Ominous lessons from China’s Big Data Valley
The controversies around Huawei symbolise the suspicion with which the West...

?Choose the right tabs
After logging in, you should check the ‘dashboard’ tab. Then click on the ‘profile settings’ tab to see a drop-down menu of options. Choose the ‘prevalidate your bank account’ option and proceed.

ThinkStock Photos
SUBSCRIBE TO:
SLIDESHOW NEWSLETTER
Get your daily dose of news with striking images from India and around the world

?Prevalidating account
You will now have to enter the bank account number, IFSC code, bank name, mobile number and e-mail ID. Note that the PAN, mobile number and e-mail ID should be the same as that registered with the bank account. After this, click on ‘pre-validate’ button. The pre-validation status is sent to your registered e-mail ID and mobile number. Alternatively, you can view your status by logging in to the e-filing portal, clicking on ‘profile settings’ and ‘pre-validate your bank account’ tabs.

?Points to note
1. As an assessee, it is important for you to first link your PAN to your bank account to be able to pre-validate the bank account.
2. You can e-verify the income tax return only by using a pre-validated bank account.