While submitting income tax, it is crucial to ensure accurate information such as assessment year and challan number in the income tax challan. The income tax department has recently introduced a new feature on the Income Tax Return (ITR) portal to rectify errors in the income tax challan.
It’s important to note that this feature is only available within seven days of making the income tax payment. After seven days, the old offline method must be followed.
The new online challan correction feature applies to challans related to AY 2020-21 (FY 2019-20) and onwards.
This means that for tax payments pertaining to AY 2020-21 or any subsequent year, specific corrections can be made online within a designated time frame, eliminating the need to visit the income tax office.
What can be corrected using the online feature?
Taxpayers can utilize the ‘Challan Correction’ option to rectify three details in the income tax challan. These details include the assessment year, major heads (code 0021 for income tax for entities other than companies, etc.), and minor heads (e.g., advance tax). According to the income tax e-filing website, “Challan correction requests can be submitted only for minor heads: 100 (Advance tax), 300 (self-assessment tax), and 400 (demand payment as regular assessment tax) and for their corresponding major heads through the e-filing portal.”
Taxpayers can submit multiple correction requests in a single challan by selecting all three options available on the correction webpage: AY, tax applicable (major head), and type of payment (minor head).
How to use the challan correction feature on the ITR filing portal?
Before using the challan correction online feature, taxpayers must meet certain prerequisites:
- The taxpayer should be registered on the e-filing ITR portal.
- The challan requiring correction should not have been used while filing ITR.
- Challan correction requests should not be pending with any other authority such as banks.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to submit the challan correction request online:
Step 1: Visit the ITR filing website and log in to your account. Under the ‘Services’ column, select the ‘challan correction’ option.
Step 2: Choose ‘create challan correction request’ on the new webpage.
Step 3: Select the appropriate option that requires correction, such as change in assessment year, change in tax applicable (major head), or change in type of payment (minor head). Then, click ‘continue’.
Step 4: Provide the details of the income tax challan that needs correction, either the assessment year or challan identification number (CIN). Click ‘continue’ after this step.
Step 5: Based on the option selected, a new webpage will open, displaying the respective challan details or a list of all challans relating to the selected AY. Select the required challan and click ‘continue’.
Step 6: Enter the correct details of the option selected earlier and click ‘continue.
Step 7: Verify the correction in the tax challan using Aadhaar OTP, digital signature certificate (DSC), or electronic verification code (EVC) through net-banking, Demat, or bank account. Then, click ‘continue’.
Step 8: Once the correction is successfully e-verified, the income tax e-filing website will display a success message along with the transaction ID, which should be kept for tracking the status of the correction request.
How to track the status of the challan correction?
To view the status of the tax challan correction, log in to the ITR portal and select the ‘challan correction’ button under the services tab. The webpage will display the status of the challan correction request.
What is the time limit for the challan to get corrected?
The income tax department has not specified the time it takes to correct the challan. However, in general, the correction request is processed within 15 days. If a considerable amount of time has passed since the correction request was submitted, taxpayers can file a grievance complaint or contact the CPC helpline.