The IT department will not give a link for a refund if one is due, users should be aware of this. Additionally, you should avoid providing debit card or credit card information on websites that you are sent a link to by SMS because this could be a phishing scam to steal your card information.
The Income Tax Department does not request detailed personal information through e-mail and does not send e-mail requesting your PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.
Precautions
If you receive an e-mail from someone claiming to be the authorized by Income Tax Department or directing you to an Income Tax website:
- Do not reply.
- Do not open any attachments. Attachments may contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
- Do not click on any links. If you clicked on links in a suspicious e-mail or phishing website then do not enter confidential information like bank account, credit card details.
- Do not cut and paste the link from the message into your browsers, phishers can make link look like real, but it actually send you to different websites.
- Use anti-virus software, anti spyware, and a firewall and keep them updated. Some phishing e-mails contain software that can harm your computer or track your activities on the internet without your knowledge. Anti-virus & Anti-spyware software and firewall can protect you from inadvertently accepting such unwanted files.
Fake ITR reporting
According to the Income tax website, “If you receive an e-mail or find a website you think is pretending to be of Income Tax Department, forward the e-mail or website URL to [email protected]. A copy may also be forwarded to [email protected] You may forward the message as received or provide the Internet header of the e-mail. The Internet header has additional information to help us locate the sender. After you forward the e-mail or header information to us, delete the message.”
ITR status can be checked pre-login as well as post-login. You can avail additional information like downloading the return / intimation if you check your ITR status post-login. You need to enter the valid ITR acknowledgement number if you are using this service without logging in.
How to check Income tax return status online
The income tax refund status can be tracked on the government’s new income tax portal by following the steps below:
1. Visit www.incometax.gov.in and log in to your account by entering PAN/Aadhaar number as user ID, and your password.
2. After logging in click on ‘e-file’ option. Under the ‘e-file’ option, select ‘Income tax returns’ and then select ‘View Filed returns’.
Step 3: Check the latest ITR filed.
Step 4: Select ‘View Details’ option.
It will display the status of the ITR filed once it has been chosen. Additionally, it will display the date on which tax refunds were issued as well as the amount and date on which they were cleared.