I-T refund status to flash on your mobile phone soon

If you are anxiously awaiting your refund cheque to arrive, you may no longer have to wait for queries from the Income Tax department. 

Taxpayers can get quick SMS and e-mail updates on refunds very soon. All it requires is to provide some personal information to the income tax department.

 The Central Board of Direct Taxes has recently notified new rules stating taxpayers filing their returns this year will have to mandatorily share their personal email IDs and mobile numbers with the department.

 This will facilitate information sharing at a faster rate and will also help the tax collecting authorities to be in touch with you and keep reminding about the due date of your payments.

 “A valid e-mail ID and mobile number has to be registered on the e-filing website of the Income Tax Department so that direct communication with taxpayer can be possible,” the tax department said in its communication.

 “Validation of e-mail and mobile numbers has been introduced to facilitate taxpayers as in many cases incorrect e-mail IDs and mobile numbers have been provided and taxpayers did not receive important communication from the department,” it said.

 This is a one-time process to validate the mobile number and e-mail ID. However, whenever the taxpayer changes the mobile number or e-mail ID in their profile, the process will be repeated to ensure that the particulars provided are correct.

One mobile number or e-mail ID can be used for a maximum of 10 user accounts as the primary contact- mobile number and e-mail ID in e-filing. This is to ensure that family members and related business concerns not having personal e-mail IDs or mobile numbers can be covered under a common e-mail ID or mobile number. But in general, taxpayers should have their own unique e-mail ID and mobile number registered with the department.

“The aim is to update and stay in touch with the taxpayer as done by credit card firms and banks,” according to a senior I-T official