If you have given your Aadhaar number while filing your income tax returns, then you don’t need to submit the Income Tax Return – Verification (ITR V) form.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairperson Anita Kapur said that Aadhaar record has all the biometric including signature, so verification can be done on the basis of the unique identity number and filing will be completed.

Sharing with the media the strategies adopted by CBDT to go paperless and make the system hassle-free for the individual tax payers, she said that refund will not be delayed.

“If the Aadhaar number and your PAN number match, then on your mobile, we will send you OTP (one-time password). So, once you upload your return instead of going and printing ITR V printout, there will be icon showing where you need to put the OTP and validate the return,” she said while adding that the OTP life is likely to be for 24 hours. However, one can make another request for OTP if the first one has lapsed.

At present, digital signature is a must for filing corporate tax returns, but not for individual income tax payer. Such electronic signature can be procured from the Government agency and it has a validity of 2-3 years. This is one of the main reasons why individuals prefer to dispatch ITR V by speedpost or courier.

However, there were complaints about forms not reaching Bengaluru on time or getting lost in transit. Keeping this in mind, the new system has been planned. The return filing process will start in a couple of days, after the tax department uploads new forms (with space for Aadhaar).

But, tax payers who do not have either the Aadhaar or the digital signature can continue sending the ITR V form.

If any individual income tax payer does not have digital signature, he needs to take print out of ITR V after uploading the return form and send it to Bengaluru within 120 days, where the return is assessed and refund issued, if any.

Rise in e-returns Law requires signature on the form to establish that information given is correct and any wrong declaration can lead to punitive or prosecuting action. Over 2.96 crore e-returns were filed in 2013-14 which rose to over 3.41 crore in 2015-16. Any individual tax payer with income over ₹5 lakh needs to mandatorily file e-return.

Kapur said that the Tax Department will do complete 360 degree profiling of individual tax payers with the help of a new system called ‘Income Tax Business Application’ (ITBA). This will be rolled out in phases and completed by next year.

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