Check Income Tax e-filing website regularly !

Many of you might be visiting the income tax e-filing website only at the time of filing the annual returns. People who file their returns manually never visit this site in all probability. Even those who file their returns online might be doing so through their chartered accountants / income tax consultants. Those assessees might never be visiting this website for any reason. But it is necessary for all the assessees to visit this site periodically. Why must one do so? Read below. Because there might be outstanding tax demand under section 143-1a for some previous assessment year. Hard copy might not have reached you due to reasons such as the Postman finding your door closed and returning the notice to the sender i.e. IT department, your present address being different from what you gave in your PAN application years ago or even what has been given in your latest return etc. If the demand raised in 143-1a notice is not acceptable to you, you can file a rectification application under section 154 to the department within 5 years. But if you have never got the 143-1a notice in hand, how could you do that? The amended website lets you check several other things. The refund/demand status, ITR-V receipt status, return processing status, rectification status, 26AS statement , your jurisdictional assessing officer etc. One can change one's postal address, e-mail address etc. too through this website. There are a few things one can check without logging in but by just mentioning your PAN number when asked for. But several other requests call for a propler log in with your PAN number , the password and date of birth. For this, you can use the same password which one uses at the time of e-filing. But if you still file your returns manually, then you should register yourself with a password so that one can use the website for many needs.