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I received an email regarding an income tax communication recently and noticed there was a long number marked as the DIN on the notice. I had seen DIN mentioned before, but I never really understood what it was for.
My first concern was whether the communication was actually issued by the Income Tax Department. There are so many fake tax emails and messages going around that I didn't want to click anything or respond before checking it properly.
I logged into the income tax e-filing portal and found an option to authenticate a notice or order, but I wasn't sure whether I needed to log in to use it or whether I could verify the DIN directly.
The notice itself has the DIN and date of issue, so I'm assuming that's the number I should use for verification.
For anyone who has dealt with this before, what exactly does the DIN mean, and what's the correct way to verify an income tax notice using it? Also, what happens if a notice supposedly issued by the department doesn't have a DIN?
I had a similar situation and initially thought the DIN was the same thing as the assessment year or notice number. It's not.
The DIN is specifically used to identify the communication issued by the Income Tax Department.
According to the current Income Tax Department instructions, you can authenticate a communication by selecting Document Identification Number and Mobile Number and entering the complete DIN. An OTP is then sent to the mobile number provided for verification.
If the system finds the communication, it confirms that the notice/order/letter was issued by the Income Tax Authority.
If it says no record was found, I wouldn't ignore the communication automatically. I'd first check that the DIN was entered correctly and then verify the notice through the official portal.
DIN is basically a unique identification number for communications issued by the Income Tax Department.
The department says that communications issued by Income Tax authorities from October 1, 2019 onward should generally carry a unique DIN. This includes notices, orders, letters and other communications.
I used the authentication facility when I received a notice. You don't necessarily need to log into your e-filing account. The department provides the Authenticate Notice/Order Issued by ITD service as a pre-login facility.
You can select the option to authenticate using the DIN and mobile number, enter the complete DIN, and verify it using the OTP.
That gave me some peace of mind before responding to the notice.
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The missing-DIN situation is the part I'd take seriously.
The Income Tax Department says that a communication issued on or after October 1, 2019 without a DIN is generally treated as invalid and non est in law, subject to the applicable prescribed exceptions.
That doesn't mean you should simply delete an email because you don't immediately see a DIN. I'd first make sure you're looking at the actual notice/order and not just an email notification about something available on the portal.
I also wouldn't use links contained in a suspicious email. It's safer to open the official e-filing portal yourself and use the authentication or notice-related services there.