ITR Registration: How to Register on the e-Filing Portal

To register for ITR filing, go to incometax.gov.in, click Register, choose to register as a taxpayer, enter and validate your PAN, fill in your basic and contact details, confirm the two OTPs sent to your mobile and email, and set a password. All you need is an active PAN, a working mobile number and an email address. Once registered, your PAN is your user ID for filing every future return.

Registration takes about ten minutes. What follows is the exact sequence, the rules the portal enforces, and the five settings worth fixing straight after, because those are what usually trip people up in July.

What you need before you start

• An active, valid PAN. If you do not have one, the portal's Instant e-PAN service issues one using Aadhaar. You still have to register on the portal after you get it.
• A mobile number you control. OTPs, EVCs and alerts go here.
• An email address you check. Intimations, refund messages and notices arrive here.
• Your PAN details to hand. Name, date of birth and gender must match PAN records exactly.

PAN-Aadhaar linking is not a precondition for creating the account, but it matters for nearly everything after it (more on that below).

Step by step: registering as an individual taxpayer

1. Open the portal. Go to incometax.gov.in and click Register on the home page.
2. Choose taxpayer registration. Select Register as a Taxpayer, enter your PAN and click Validate. If the PAN is already registered or invalid, the portal shows an error at this point.
3. Confirm Aadhaar linkage if applicable. If your PAN is linked to Aadhaar, tick the confirmation box in the pop-up so the details are checked against UIDAI records.
4. Basic details. Enter your name, date of birth, gender and residential status exactly as per PAN, then continue.
5. Contact details. Enter your primary mobile number, email ID and postal address.
6. Two OTPs. The portal sends a 6-digit OTP to your mobile and a separate one to your email. Enter both. Each is valid for 15 minutes, you get three attempts, and Resend OTP generates a fresh code.
7. Review. Check every field, edit if needed, and confirm.
8. Set a password and secure access message. The password must be 8 to 14 characters with at least one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one special character such as @, #, $ or %. You also set a personal secure access message. Do not press Refresh or Back on this screen.
9. Log in. Click Proceed to Login. Your user ID is your PAN.

The same flow covers all taxpayers other than companies, which have their own registration manual. Chartered accountants, tax deductors and collectors (using a TAN) and e-return intermediaries register through separate options on the same Register page.

Five things to set up right after registering

1. Check that your PAN is linked to Aadhaar

A PAN that should have been linked to Aadhaar but was not becomes inoperative. Linking after the deadline requires paying a fee first, through e-Pay Tax. You can check your status from the Link Aadhaar option on the portal's home page. Do it now, not the week your return is due.

2. Pre-validate your bank account and nominate it for refund

Go to Profile, then My Bank Account, then Add Bank Account, and validate. Refunds are credited only to a pre-validated bank account linked to your PAN, and once the status shows Validated you still have to switch on Nominate for Refund. A pre-validated, EVC-enabled account also lets you e-verify your return with an EVC.

3. Turn on stronger login security

The e-Filing Vault option adds a second factor for login and password resets, using bank or demat EVC, a DSC, or Aadhaar OTP. The secure access message you set during registration is your anti-phishing check: if a page asking for your password does not show it, stop.

4. Learn the other ways in

Besides PAN and password, you can log in through your bank's net banking (one validated account can be enabled for this) or with an Aadhaar OTP if your PAN is linked to Aadhaar. After five wrong password attempts the account is locked, and you can try again after 30 minutes.

5. Look at your AIS and Form 26AS

Once logged in, open the Annual Information Statement and Form 26AS. They show the TDS and financial transactions reported against your PAN. Comparing them with your own records early is the single best way to avoid a mismatch notice later.

Worked example: a Hyderabad graduate in her first job

Sana joined a Hyderabad IT services firm in April 2025 on a salary of ₹13,00,000 a year. She has a PAN from college but has never filed a return.

1. Why she needs the account: her income is above the basic exemption limit, so she must file ITR-1 for AY 2026-27, and her employer has deducted TDS that she needs to claim as a credit in that return.
2. Registration, ten minutes: PAN validated, Aadhaar-linked box ticked, details entered exactly as on her PAN card. On the first try the portal rejected her name because she had typed "Sana Fathima" while her PAN reads "Sana Fatima". She corrected it and continued.
3. Two OTPs: one to her phone, one to her email, entered within 15 minutes.
4. Password: she sets a 12-character password with mixed case, a number and a symbol, plus a secure access message only she would recognise.
5. After registering: she pre-validates her salary account and nominates it for refund, then opens Form 26AS and confirms that the TDS shown matches her Form 16.

When she files, her refund has somewhere valid to go and she can e-verify with an EVC or Aadhaar OTP in a minute.

Common registration mistakes

• Details that do not match PAN. Spelling variations, a different date of birth or initials expanded differently will block validation. Copy your PAN record exactly.
• Using someone else's mobile or email. Families often register everyone on one parent's phone. OTPs, EVCs and notices then go to the wrong person. Use the taxpayer's own contact details where possible.
• Registering the business on the owner's PAN. A proprietorship files under the proprietor's PAN, but a partnership firm, LLP or company has its own PAN and needs its own registration.
• Stopping at registration. An account without a pre-validated bank account cannot receive a refund, and an inoperative PAN causes problems well beyond filing.
• Falling for look-alike sites. Type incometax.gov.in yourself and check your secure access message before entering your password.

Deadlines to keep in mind once you are registered

For income earned in FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), the original due dates for non-audit taxpayers have passed: 31 July 2026 for ITR-1 and ITR-2, and 31 August 2026 for non-audit business and professional income. A belated return can still be filed until 31 December 2026, with a late fee. Whatever you file, e-verify it within 30 days of uploading.

Looking ahead: the Income-tax Act, 2025 applies from 1 April 2026, and it replaces the old "previous year" and "assessment year" pair with a single "tax year". Your portal login stays the same; the labels on some screens may change.

hellobooks< / a > -fits-in-for-business-owners">How HelloBooks fits in for business owners

HelloBooks does not register you on the income-tax portal or file returns. If you run a business, though, most of what you will check on the portal after registering, such as TDS credits, turnover and bank receipts, comes from your books. HelloBooks keeps that side straight:

• TDS records reconciled to Form 26AS, so the credits in your return match what the department shows.
• Form 16A drafting for TDS you deduct from vendors, once you are registered as a deductor with your TAN.
• Bank feeds and reconciliation, so the receipts in your AIS have a matching entry in your books.
• A compliance calendar with due-date alerts for your GST and TDS deadlines.

Your CA or tax preparer uses those records to prepare and file the return.

This is general information as of November 2026, not tax or legal advice. Check the official source or a qualified CA for your situation.