Payment of some income tax refunds are likely to get delayed as certain records were damaged by a major fire in I-T office in the national capital in October, Parliament was informed today.

Duplicate returns are being called through advertisements and direct letters to employers, Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

As per the guidelines issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the processing of returns is to be done within four months of receipt of the returns, Palanimanickam said.

A fire had broken out in a multi-storeyed building of Mayur Bhawan house of the Income Tax department on October 6, completely gutting a floor and destroying a large number of documents.

The building has a number of offices of the Income Tax department, Provident Fund, pharma companies and the seventh floor, which was completely gutted, houses the Directorate of General Administration of the department.

Palanimanickam said as per the statutory provisions of Income Tax Act, 1961, the returns received in Financial Year 2007-08 are to be processed by March 31, 2009.