The Income Tax Department has issued 42 crore Permanent Account Numbers (PANs), according to latest dataThe Income Tax Department has urged the income tax assessees to link their PAN (Permanent Account Number) with their bank accounts.

"Get your refund directly, swiftly and securely in your bank account," the taxman said in an infographic on its portal, incometaxindia.gov.in.

Stating that it would issue "only e-refunds" from March 1, 2019, the Income Tax Department said the (income tax) refunds would be credited to bank accounts linked with PAN.

This will be applicable to savings, current, cash and overdraft accounts, according to the Income Tax Department website.( Income tax assessments to be "completely faceless" in few years, says taxman)Currently, the Income Tax Department issues refunds to assessees either in their bank account or through account payee cheques.The Income Tax Department also said the assessees will be able to check the status of linkage of a bank account with a PAN through its e-filing portal, incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.This service can be accessed by logging in to the Income Tax Department's e-filing website by selecting the "pre-validate your bank account" option under the "profile setting" section, according to the taxman.The Income Tax Department also said that individuals should provide the PAN number to the home branch of the bank account, and validate this over the taxman's e-filing portal.

This means individuals who have not yet linked their PAN with their bank account are required to furnish the PAN details at their bank.The Income Tax Department has also listed steps for assessees whose PAN is not linked to their bank account to take up the linkage:Provide PAN details to the bank branchValidate the bank account by logging in to Income Tax Department's e-filing portalOnce logged on to e-filing portal, fill up details by selecting "pre-validate your account" link under "profile setting" sectionIf the bank is integrated with the e-filing portal, the pre-validation will be done "directly through EVC and net banking route", the Income Tax Department noted.

However, if it is not integrated, the Income Tax Department will validate the bank account from the details provided by the user, according to the taxman.Meanwhile, linking of PAN with Aadhaar is mandatory for filing an income tax return (ITR).

The Income Tax Department has set March 31 as the due date for assessees to link their PAN with Aadhaar, according to its website.The Income Tax Department has issued 42 crore PANs, of which 23 crore have been linked with Aadhaar, according to latest data.(With agency inputs)