As most taxpayers access their e-tax filing account only once in a year they may forget their income tax e-filing account’s password. Without this password accessing one’s income tax e-filing account and consequently filing one’s income tax return will not be possible.
However, the income tax department has given taxpayers four options to recover this password. The password can be recovered by either answering the secret questions put in at the time of creating it,using Aadhaar (One Time Password) OTP, by uploading the digital signature certificate or using Mobile OTP PIN.
However, the income tax department has given taxpayers four options to recover this password. The password can be recovered by either answering the secret questions put in at the time of creating it, using Aadhaar (One Time Password) OTP, by uploading the digital signature certificate or using Mobile OTP PIN.
Following are the steps to reset your password using these four options.
Option 1: Using the ‘Answer Secret Question’
Step 1: Visit incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in website, under ‘Forget password’ option, click on ‘Reset’ tab.
Step 2: The taxpayer has to enter his/her User ID (your PAN number), Captcha and then, click on ‘Continue’ tab.
Step 3: Select the ‘Answer Secret Question’ from the drop-down options available. Click on ‘Continue’ tab.
Step 4: Enter your date of birth which is mandatory. Make sure you select the dates from the calendar provided.
Step 5: Now select the mandatory ‘Secret question’ from the drop-down options available.
Step 6: Enter the ‘Secret answer’ and then, click on ‘Submit’ tab.
Step 7: On successfully submitting the answer, the taxpayer needs to enter the ‘new password’, re-enter to confirm, and click on the ‘submit’ tab again.
Once the process of password change is done, a ‘successfully password change’ message gets displayed on the screen. Hence, you can now log in with the new password.
Option 2: Using Aadhaar OTP
Pre-requirement: Before the taxpayer uses this option to generate Aadhaar OTP, they must ensure that their PAN and Aadhaar are linked.
Step 1: Visit incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in website, under ‘Forget password’ option, click on ‘Reset’ tab.
Step 2: The taxpayer has to enter his/her User ID (It is your PAN number), Captcha and click on ‘Continue’ button.
Step 3: Select the ‘Using Aadhaar OTP’ from the drop-down options available. Click on ‘Continue’ tab.
Step 4: Taxpayer will be redirected to a page where he/she is required to confirm his/her Aadhaar Number. After that, click on ‘Generate Aadhaar OTP’.
Step 5: The Aadhaar OTP will be sent to the phone which is registered with the Aadhaar number.
Step 6: Now the taxpayer has to enter the Aadhaar OTP received via his/her mobile on the forget password page and then, he/she has to click on the ‘Validate’ tab. After that the the Aadhaar OTP should get validated.
Step 7: Once the process is successfully completed, the taxpayer needs to enter the ‘new password’, re-enter to confirm, and click on the submit tab.
Once the process of password change is done, a ‘successfully password change’ message gets displayed on the screen. Now you can log in with the new password.
Option 3: By uploading a Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)
Step 1: Visit incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in website, under ‘Forget password’ option, click on ‘Reset’ tab.
Step 2: The taxpayer has to enter his/her User ID (PAN), Captcha and click on ‘Continue’ tab.
Step 3: Select the ‘Upload Digital Signature Certificate’ from the drop-down options available. Click on ‘Continue’ tab.
Step 4: Taxpayer needs to select the ‘Registered DSC’ options available.
Step 5: Taxpayer has to upload his/her signature file generated using DSC management utility and then has to click on the ‘Validate’ tab.
Step 6: Once the process is successfully completed, the taxpayer will see an option to enter the ‘new password’. The taxpayer should enter the new password, re-enter to confirm, and click on the submit tab.
Once the process of password change is done, a ‘successfully password change’ message gets displayed. Hence, you can log in with the new password.
Option 4: By using OTP (PINs)
Step 1: Step 1: Visit incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in website, under ‘Forget password’ option, click on ‘Reset’ tab.
Step 2: The taxpayer has to enter his/her User ID (It is your PAN number), Captcha and click on ‘Continue’ button.
Step 3: Select the ‘Using OTP (PINs)’ from the drop-down options available. Click on ‘Continue’ tab.
Step 4: The taxpayer has to select ‘Registered email ID’ and ‘Mobile number’ to get OTP (PINs).
Step 5: Enter the OTP (PINs) received on the registered email ID and mobile. After that, click on ‘Validate’ tab.
Step 6: Once the process is successfully completed, the taxpayer needs to enter the ‘new password’, re-enter to confirm, and click on the ‘submit’ tab.
Once the process of password change is done, a ‘successfully password change’ message gets displayed on the screen. Hence, you can log in with the new password.
Points to note
- Taxpayers should make sure that their registered mobile remains active during that time.
- In case of using OTP option, you can only log in with new password after the time specified in communication.
- In case the taxpayer has not received the OTP within a reasonable time, he/she can click on the ‘Resend’ option.
- An email along with a link for “Cancellation for the password reset request” will be shared to the registered Email ID and new Email ID. In case the user identifies the request for password reset is un-authorized, then user can click on the Cancellation link provided within 12hours. PAN and DOB validation will be done before aborting the password reset request.