Hiring & Verification
Background Check Wants Your ITR Portal Password? What to Share
A background check asks for your Income Tax portal or UAN password. Why not to hand it over, which documents prove the same thing, and what to do if you already shared it.
myutils.me8 min read
You have an offer, and the background-check form asks for your Income Tax e-filing user ID and password "to verify your income". Some forms ask for your UAN password as well. You don't have to give either. Every fact a verifier legitimately needs, such as what you earned, whether you filed and which employers paid you, can be shown with documents or by you logging in yourself. A password gives the holder your whole account, not one fact.
This guide covers what a portal login actually exposes, what to offer instead, how to word the reply, and what to do if you have already shared it.
What your portal password opens
Logging in to incometax.gov.in with your PAN and password gives the same access you have. Unless you have turned on a second login step (more on that below), the password alone is enough. Someone holding it can see:
- every return you have filed, with the full income schedules, not only the salary figure
- your AIS and TIS: bank interest, dividends, share and mutual fund transactions, property purchases, rent and other income reported against your PAN
- Form 26AS, with every deductor and the TDS they deposited
- your profile: address, mobile number, email and the bank accounts on file
- notices, demands and refund details
They can also act: file or revise a return, submit responses to notices, and change details in your profile. Many of these steps ask for an OTP or e-verification, but not all, and the person has your data either way.
A salary check needs one line of this. Sharing the login gives a verifier, and anyone at the agency who can read its records, far more than the check needs.
The UAN password is the same story on a smaller scale. The EPFO Member Portal lets the holder see your service history and passbook and file claims and transfers.
What to offer instead
Pick the lightest option that answers the actual question. Ask the verifier which question that is: past salary, proof of filing, or employment dates.
| What they want to know | What you can share | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Salary at your last employer | Form 16 for the year, payslips, relieving letter | Salary paid and TDS deducted by that employer |
| That you filed and what you declared | The ITR acknowledgement (ITR-V) PDF downloaded from the portal | Filing date, total income, tax paid, refund or balance |
| That the department accepted it | The 143(1) intimation for that year | Your figures next to CPC's, and any difference |
| Which employers reported your salary | A screen-share or in-person view of your AIS salary section, or the AIS PDF | Salary and TDS reported by each employer (TAN) for the year |
| Employment dates | Relieving letters, or your UAN for the verifier's own check | Joining and exit dates |
Some notes on each:
- Form 16 Part A is generated from TRACES and carries a certificate number. Verifiers can check it against Form 26AS; the steps are in how to check a Form 16 is genuine.
- The ITR acknowledgement is the document most banks and employers ask for. If it is a signed PDF, the verifier can check it in the PDF signature verifier without uploading it. The PDF password the portal sets is usually your PAN in lower case followed by your date of birth (DDMMYYYY), information the employer already holds.
- The full AIS is broad. It lists your bank interest, investments and property deals, which a salary check doesn't need. Showing the salary section on screen, or sharing the TIS summary, keeps the rest private.
- Your own login, your own screen. If the verifier wants to see the record on the portal itself, log in on your device while they watch, and open only the pages they need, such as e-File > Income Tax Returns > View Filed Returns. Don't let them type the password, and log out when done.
For how employers compare these documents, see how employers verify past salary in India.
How to reply to the request
A short written reply works better than silence, because it keeps the check moving. You can adapt this:
I'm not able to share my Income Tax portal or UAN login credentials. For income verification I can share my Form 16 for FY 2025-26, my ITR acknowledgement for AY 2026-27 and the 143(1) intimation, or show the relevant pages on the portal on a call. Please let me know which of these you need.
Most agencies accept documents. If one insists on the password, ask the employer's HR team directly; the request usually comes from an agency's standard form rather than from the employer.
Why employers shouldn't ask for it either
For HR teams, a password is a liability. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 rests on principles that include purpose limitation and data minimisation, as the government's own explainer of the DPDP Rules puts it. Collecting full access to a candidate's tax account to confirm one salary figure is hard to square with either, and the employer then holds credentials it has to protect. The Rules phase in over 18 months from November 2025; DPDP Rules for HR teams sets out the dates.
A consent-based route exists. Greenflag by myutils.me lets the employer send a request listing the categories it needs. The candidate syncs their own AIS, TIS and filed-return data in their own account, previews it, and chooses what to share. The employer sees the shared figures and never sees the password. What the employer receives is the candidate's own synced tax data, shared with consent. Greenflag can't sync portal accounts that ask for an OTP at every login.
Already shared your password? Do this today
- Change the password. Use Forgot Password on the portal's login page if you can't sign in, or change it from your profile once logged in.
- Check your contact details and bank accounts in your profile. If an email, mobile number or bank account you don't recognise appears, fix it and raise a grievance through e-Nivaran.
- Check View Filed Returns for any return or revised return you didn't file.
- Turn on e-Filing Vault. The portal's e-Filing Vault adds a second factor at login or password reset, using net banking, a DSC, Aadhaar OTP, or a bank or demat EVC. The department's help page recommends it, though it isn't mandatory. Note that it also blocks any service that signs in with your password alone.
- Change your UAN password on the EPFO Member Portal if you shared that too, and check the passbook for claims you didn't make.
FAQ
Is it legal for a background-check company to ask for my Income Tax password?
There is no rule we know of that requires you to give it, and the DPDP Act's principles point the other way. You can decline and offer documents that prove the same facts.
Will refusing to share my password cost me the offer?
It shouldn't if you offer alternatives at once. Form 16, the ITR acknowledgement and the 143(1) intimation answer the usual questions. If the agency won't accept them, take it up with the employer's HR team.
Is the ITR-V enough to prove my salary?
It proves what you declared and that you filed. Combined with Form 16 and, if needed, the 143(1) intimation, it covers what most employers ask. The checks a verifier can run on it are in ITR-V as income proof.
Can I share my AIS instead of my password?
Yes, but the full AIS shows much more than salary. Show the salary section on screen or share the TIS summary where that is enough.
Should I give my UAN number to a background check?
The UAN number alone gives no access to your account, and verifiers use it to check employment history. Share the number if asked; never the UAN password. What your UAN service history shows explains what they'll see.
Sources
Topics
- AIS
- Form 26AS
- Section 143(1)
- Tax Filing
- TIS
myutils.me
Written by the team behind myutils.me, a free, independent app that brings ITR status, refunds and AIS/TIS for each PAN into one dashboard. Check anything important against the Income Tax portal before you act on it.
