How to Generate Static Passwords on the New e-filing Income Tax Portal?

What is a Static Password?

Registering onto the portal requires you to enter a user ID and a password, which is followed by another step for verifying your details a second time. It is simply called the two-factor authentication, or ‘static password’ on this e-Filing portal.

Generating a static password is one of the plenty of other options available on the updated income tax portal. This feature is particularly helpful in cases where the chances of receiving an OTP/EVC number to your mobile phone is low, owing to poor or no network connectivity.

How to Generate Static Password on the New Income Tax Portal?

Once you have logged in for the first time using your credentials on the updated website at www.incometax.gov.in, you will be able to generate a static password by following these steps:

• Step 1: Log in to your dashboard.
• Step 2: On your dashboard, to the top right corner, click on your profile named ‘My Profile.’
• Step 3: The page directs you to your personal details page. On the left side of the page is a menu, and one of the options shows ‘Static Password.’ Click on it.
• Step 4: The Static Password page contains a list of general instructions, uses and characteristics of a static password.
• Step 5: Read through all the instructions carefully, and then click on the ‘Generate Static Password’ option under the list of instructions.
• Step 6: Upon success, the page refreshes with a message that reads that you have successfully generated 10 static passwords, which have been sent to your primary email with which you’ve registered on the portal.

  Of these ten passwords, you can use each one of them, one by one, for the next thirty days, or until you’ve used up all the ten static passwords to log in to the portal next time.

Additional Notes About Static Passwords

Static passwords are meant for one-time use only. This means that once you’ve used one of the ten static passwords for your two-factor authentication, you cannot use the same password again. However, you can use another password from the remaining nine of them to log in to your next session.

It is a system-generated numeric code that you can keep handy while logging in, where you can easily access your dashboard without waiting for an OTP or an EVC number. The generated passwords are sent to your primary registered email and are valid for the next thirty days from the date of generating them. They all expire on the 30th day when left unused.

If you have used up all (but one) generated passwords, you can generate these passwords once again by following the same aforementioned process, even if the thirty days have not passed.

Either all passwords have been used, or they’ve all expired after the 30th day; you can generate them anew.

Additionally, you can also check the status of the generated passwords on the portal, how many you have used and how many remain unused.

How to Check the Status of Static Passwords

• Step 1: Log in to your dashboard.
• Step 2: Click on your profile.
• Step 3: Click on Static Password from the left side menu on your personal details page.

  If static passwords have not yet been generated, the page shows the same list of instructions as mentioned before. However, as you already have requested the set of static passwords, the page will now show the count of how many static passwords are remaining to be used. The page also shows the remaining days of validity until you can generate new passwords.

  Eg: 7 static passwords are/are unused. Please use the remaining static passwords to log in to the e-Filing portal, or you can generate a new set of passwords after 12 days.

  If you want the email sent to you again, click on the ‘Resend Static Password’ button on the page.

  

  On success, the page refreshes to show a message that reads ‘‘x” passwords have been re-sent.

  

  It is necessary to note that you can generate passwords after whichever comes first: either you’ve used up all passwords, or the thirty days validity for the passwords is up, which is when you can generate new passwords again.

Final Thoughts

The new e-Filing portal seeks to make the interface more interactive than the older, more cumbersome website. The revised site is user-friendly, and soon, mobile-friendly. Not only does the portal simplify things for the taxpayers, but it also brings convenience to other users too, registered and unregistered or external too.