Here’s why and how to check the Income Tax Return status

If you have filled your ITR return form and submitted it, then you must be waiting to check the status of the ITR return file. Well, you can definitely do that but only after the return has been filled and verified thoroughly. It is advisable to check the status of the ITR return to make sure that it has been accepted and is in process. Naveen Wadhwa, DGM of Taxmaan says that if the ITR form is dully filled and accepted and is under process then the status that will be reflected on your account will be “ITR processed”. But, if any kind of discrepancies are found or any kind of changes is updated by the Centralized Processing Centre, Bengaluru, then the status will be different, it can either say defective return or case transferred to assessing officer.

If you see such statuses then you can provide a reply to the ITR department to avoid any complications, said Naveen Wadhwa.

Different types of ITR status:

Submitted and pending for e-verification: You will see this status when you have filled the ITR but didn’t e-verify it or have manually verified it and have sent the acknowledgement to the Income Tax department but the department has not received it. In that case, you will see Submitted and pending for e-verification status.

Successfully e-verified: You will see this status when you have successfully submitted your ITR form which is also duly verified but has not been processed yet.

Processed: If your status is showing processed, then this means that the ITR return has been processed successfully without any complications.

Defective: If your status is showing defective, then you will receive a notice from the income tax department under section 139(9) where the department will ask you to rectify the defect within 15 days only from the date you have received the notice. You will see this status only when you don’t file the ITR form according to the provision of Indian law.

Case transferred to Assessing Officer: If your ITR form involves some discrepancies or complexities and needs human intervention then the Income Tax department transfers such cases to the Jurisdictional Assessing officer. And then after assessing it further, they process it. Wadhwa says that if you can see this status then the best thing to do is to wait to hear from the assessing officer. They will either contact you through mail, telephone, SMS or even a letter asking you to provide necessary evidence in support of your claim.

Here’s how to check your ITR return status on Income tax website:

You can check the ITR return status by two means. We will talk about it one by one.

Using the login credentials that you have:

Step 1: Click on the income tax department’s e-filling website. Visit: https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home

Step 2: Login with your credentials

Step 3: Check for the dashboard and select

Step 4: Look for View Return/ Form Options

Step 5: Once you find it, select the Income Tax Return form and choose the relevant assessment year from the drop-down menu.

Step 5: You will be able to see the return status on the screen.

How to check the ITR return status using the acknowledgement number of ITR field:

Here, you don’t need your login credentials.

Step 1: Visit https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home