The income tax department’s electronic filing website allows you to manage all your tax matters. This includes filing your income tax returns online, checking the status of your IT refund requests and electronically verify your IT refund. Therefore, the IT department website has a lot of sensitive financial information that you probably want to protect. The IT department offers certain options to add to the security of your account and you can use them to protect your account. The first step obviously involves using more secure passwords and avoiding ones you’ve used elsewhere, and once you’ve done so, follow these steps to increase the security of your electronic income tax filing account.
- Go to the Increased security of the electronic income tax filing website Web page. You can find this under the Profile settings tab> Electronic File Vault – Increased Security.
- You will now see two titles: Login with higher security options which allows you to add an extra layer of security upon login and Lock Reset password options which avoids changing the password without an additional layer of authentication.
- Below Login with higher security options, select the option you want to enable. We choose Login through Net-Banking for this tutorial. You can also choose between Login using Aadhaar OTP, Login using DSC (digital signature certificate), Login using EVC bank account (electronic verification code), and log in with Demat EVC.
- Once you check that option, click Continue.
- You will now see a pop-up window that describes the security method. Click okay.
- You will return to the page from step 3. Click Continue again.
- The next page will ask you to confirm your authentication method. Click Confirm.
This will allow the additional authentication step on your account. When you log in the next time, you will be prompted to use the second factor of authentication after entering your electronic income tax credentials. For net banking based logins, you need to go to your bank’s net banking portal and find the electronic income tax filing option. When you select the option labelled “File Your Income Tax Return Electronically,” you will be able to access your electronic filing account. This step varies depending on the authentication method you choose. The DSC method seems to be the most secure as it allows you to create a USB token to log in. Detailed instructions on how to use it can be found in the IT department Help page > How > How to register DSC.
How to Block Password Reset on Electronic Income Tax Filing Website
It’s easy to block password resets on the IT department’s e-filing website. Follow these steps.
- Go to the Increased security of the electronic income tax filing website Web page.
- Scroll down to Lock Reset password options.
- Resetting your password through internet banking is always enabled. However, you can prevent reboots using other methods, such as Using Aadhaar OTP, Upload DSC, Using the EVC bank account, Y Using Demat EVC. We tried using Aadhaar OTP for this tutorial. Check the option you want to choose and click Continue.
- The next step is just a confirmation popup. Here click Generate Aadhaar OTP.
- Then the site asks you to log into the OTP. Log in and click Validate.
- In the next step, click Confirm.
This will allow the resetting of the lock password without additional authentication. The next time you try to reset the password for your TI e-filing account, you will be prompted to enter your Aadhaar OTP or use the other authentication method you chose.