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How to Claim Income Tax Refund - How to Pre-validate your Bank Account

How to Pre-validate Bank Account to receive an Income Tax refund?

Updated on: 20 Sep, 2023 03:00 PM

If an excess TDS is deducted at the source, there is an option to always ask for a refund from the Income Tax Department. You can claim this refund at the time of ITR filing. The ITR department verifies the filing and accordingly provides you with the refund.

To be eligible to get this refund, it is important to first pre-validate your bank account on the income tax e-filing portal. To pre-validate the bank account, read the guide below:-

Why is it necessary to pre-validate bank account?
How to pre-validate bank account online on the Income Tax portal?
Common Validation Errors on Income Tax Portal
Which bank account can be prevalidated?
What are the prerequisites for successful pre-validation?
If a bank account is pre-validated, will it also be EVC enabled?
Can I enable more than one pre-validated bank account for EVC?
Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it necessary to pre-validate bank account?

For electronic credit service, i.e., receiving your refund through ECS directly in your bank account, pre-validation is a must.

How to pre-validate bank account online on the Income Tax portal?

Step 1: Visit the income tax e-filing portal at www.incometax.gov.in. Login to the portal.

Step 2: Select “My Profile”, from the dashboard.

Step 3: On My Bank Accounts page, the Added, Failed, and Removed Bank Accounts tabs will be displayed.

Step 4: On the My Bank Accounts page, click Add Bank Account.

Step 5: Enter the Bank Account Number, select Account Type and Holder Type, and enter IFSC. Bank Name and Branch get auto-populated based on IFSC. Ensure that the PAN, name, mobile number, and email address provided match those registered with your bank account to ensure successful pre-validation.

Step 6: A successful message will display once the validation option is selected. Your bank details and request will be sent to your bank. The validation status will be updated on the portal within 24 hours. You will also receive a message on your mobile number and email ID registered on the e-Filing portal.

If the validation is successful,the bank account details will appear in the ‘Added Bank Accounts’ tab with the status ‘Validated and EVC enabled’.
If the validation fails, the details are displayed under ‘Failed Bank Accounts’ tab. The failed bank accounts can be re-submitted for re-validation.

Common Validation Errors on Income Tax Portal

Error	Reasons	Solution
Restricted Refund	Name mismatch between the PAN & Bank	Update the name on PAN or name in bank records
PAN - Bank account - IFSC linkage failed	PAN not available with bank	Contact branch to link your PAN with the bank account or update KYC Submit re-validation request
Invalid IFSC	In case of bank mergers, the IFSC code may change	Click Re-Validate, Enter the correct IFSC Submit re-validation request
Account number does not exist	Wrong account number entered	Click Re-Validate Enter the correct bank account number Submit re-validation request
- Bank account closed / inactive - Zero balance / Inactive account - Litigated Account - Account frozen or blocked	Unusable bank account	Click Re-Validate, Try with a different bank account number.

Which bank account can be prevalidated?

Any of your savings, current, NRO (Non-Resident Ordinary), cash credit and overdraft accounts can be pre-validated.

What are the prerequisites for successful pre-validation?

For your bank account pre-validation to be successful, your PAN details should be updated in the bank database. Also, your name, as mentioned on the PAN card and in the bank account, should be the same.

If a bank account is pre-validated, will it also be EVC enabled?

No, Only the pre-validated bank account having the same contact details i.e., mobile number in

Bank account and
Income Tax Account

can be EVC enabled.

Can I enable more than one pre-validated bank account for EVC?

No, only one bank account can be enabled by EVC (electronic verification code). If any one of your accounts is already EVC enabled, you won’t be able to enable any other account for EVC at the same time.

Important points

For successful pre-validation, you must have a valid PAN registered with e-Filing and an active bank account linked with the PAN.
If you wish to EVC-enable that bank account, you will need to update your contact details on the e-Filing portal to match your details registered with the bank or update the mobile/email at the bank’s end, same as your e-filing registered primary mobile/email. Once details are updated, revalidate your bank account.
The pre-validation process is automatic. Once your request is submitted, it is sent to your bank. The validation status is updated in your e-Filing account within 10 - 12 working days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q- How to check my Income Tax refund status online?

You can check the income tax refund status via the income tax portal or within a few minutes easily via Tax2win, “Check your Income Tax Refund Status” tool.

Q- How to link my PAN to the bank account?

You need to visit the bank to link PAN with the bank account.

Q- Is it mandatory to pre-validate the bank account?

The income tax department only issues refunds through direct credit in a bank account. Hence, it becomes important that you pre-validate your bank account on the e-filing portal.

Q- How much time does it take to pre-validate the bank account?

As the process is automated, it usually takes a couple of hours to confirm whether your account is successfully prevalidated or not. In case the validation fails, the status is reflected on the income tax portal under profile settings and is also communicated on your registered mail ID by the income tax department.