Once you've filed your income tax return and verified it, the Income Tax (I-T) Department starts processing your return. Refund, if any is due, is issued only after processing is complete. Normally, after verification the 'status' of your ITR would be 'Successfully Verified' or 'Successfully e-Verified'. After processing is complete, the status would be 'ITR Processed'.

During processing, the department checks if there are any discrepancies between the income declared and the tax paid by you and the data available to them. After processing is complete, the department will normally send you a notice under section 143 (1) informing you as to whether your return as filed has been accepted or there is some discrepancy. In case of a discrepancy in the department's tax calculations and yours, the notice under section 143 (1) will show additional tax payable. In case there is any refund due this will be reflected in the notice.

So after filing your return, if you want to check what stage it is at, here are 2 easy ways to check the status of your ITR:

1. Using acknowledgement number without login credentials
On the homepage of the e-filing website, on the extreme left under the services tab, you'll find the option to check the ITR Status. Once you click the ITR Status option, you'll be redirected to a new page where you need to fill out your PAN number, ITR acknowledgement number and the captcha code. After you fill out your details and submit, the status will be displayed on your screen

2. Using login credentials
Login to the e-filing website and on the dashboard you'll see an option 'View Returns / Forms'. Go the 'View Returns / Forms' option, select income tax returns and assessment year from the dropdown menu and submit. On submitting, the status will be displayed on the screen showing if the ITR is only verified or if it has been processed.