How to Know Your Assessing Officer (AO) on New Income Tax Portal

FAQs on How to Know Your Assessing Officer (AO) on New Income Tax Portal

Q.1 Who is an Assessing Officer (AO)?

Ans. An Assessing Officer (AO) is an officer of the Income Tax Department who is responsible for ensuring correctness of Income Tax Returns filed by the taxpayers in his/her jurisdiction.

Q.2 When do I need to contact my AO?

Ans.  If you don’t have any issues with your filing, you don’t need to contact your AO. As a general rule, the ITD endeavours to provide all taxpayer services in a faceless manner, online. However, in certain exceptional situations, the ITD may request you to approach your jurisdictional AO.

Q.3 Do I need to use my mobile number registered with the e-Filing Portal to avail the Know Your AO service?

Ans.  You can use any valid mobile number for availing this service.

Q.4 I have moved to a different city/state, do I need to change my AO?

Ans.  Yes. When you shift your permanent address or residential address from one state to another, it is necessary to get your PAN migrated to the new AO. Although the Income Tax Department endeavours to provide taxpayers with all necessary services online, on rare occasions you may need to contact your AO. Thus, it is in your interest to get your PAN migrated to the proper jurisdictional AO, so you can easily reach him/her when the need arises.

Q.5 What is income tax ward/circle?

Ans. For effective administration of income tax related services/work, a number of wards/circles have been carved out across the country based on the defined jurisdiction. Each ward/circle has a jurisdictional AO, being a DCIT/ACIT, or an ITO.

Q.6 What should I do to migrate my PAN to a new AO?

Ans.  You need to file an application for migrating your PAN to your current jurisdictional AO. The process involves:

1. Write an application to your current AO stating the reason for change as address change.

2. Write an application to the new AO, requesting him/her to apply to the existing AO for the change.

3. The current AO has to accept this application.

4. Once approved, the application is forwarded to the Income Tax Commissioner.

5. After approval from the Commissioner, the AO is changed.

You are required to make a written request to your existing AO for migrating your PAN to the new AO based on your new address.

Q.7 How will I come to know that my PAN has been migrated to the new AO?

Ans.  The current status of the jurisdictional AO for your PAN can be verified on the e-Filing portal > Know Your AO. You do not need to register or log in to use this service.

Manual on How to Know Your Assessing Officer (AO) on New Income Tax Portal

1. Overview

The Know Your AO service is available to taxpayers (registered or unregistered with e-Filing) who have a valid PAN. This service allows you to view the details of  the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (AO) for a particular PAN. You do not need to login to e-Filing portal to avail this service.

2. Prerequisites for availing this service 

• Valid PAN
• Valid mobile number

3. Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Go to the e-Filing portal homepage and click Know Your AO.

Step 2: On the Know Your Jurisdictional Assessing Officer page, enter your PAN and a valid mobile number and click Continue.

Step 3: You will receive a 6-digit OTP on the mobile number you entered in Step 2. On the Verification page, enter the OTP and click Validate.

Note:

• OTP will be valid for 15 minutes only.
• You have 3 attempts to enter the correct OTP.
• The OTP expiry countdowntimer on screen tells you when the OTP will expire.
• On clicking Resend OTP, a new OTP will be generated and sent.

On successful OTP validation, you will see the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer Details (such as Area Code, AO Type, Range Code, AO Number, Jurisdiction, Address and email ID of the AO), along with status of your PAN.