The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) tweeted on Wednesday that it has issued refunds worth ₹1,73,139 crore to more than 15.7 million taxpayers between 1 April 2020 to 11 January 2021. Income tax refunds of ₹57,139 crore have been issued in 15,455,577 cases and corporate tax refunds of ₹1,15,999 crore have been issued in 210,150 cases.
However, many taxpayers are complaining on social media that they filed income tax returns (ITRs) around 4-5 months ago but are yet to get refunds. However, we reported in December that some taxpayers are getting refunds within a week’s time. We reported that the ITRs are being processed faster and refunds are being issued within a week’s time. Tarun Kumar, a Delhi-based chartered accountant, told Mint in December, “We have seen people getting refunds in a week’s time. Something we have not seen in the past. It is happening in case of ITR 1 and ITR. I think it is happening due to the new technologically upgraded platform (CPC 2.0)." The income tax department has also introduced a new initiative called, "Jhatpat Processing" to smoothen the ITR filing experience for taxpayers. Under the "Jhatpat Processing", the processing of ITR 1 and ITR4 has started.
2 min read . 11:45 AM IST
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However, if you haven’t still received your refund, the following could be the reason.
Wrong bank account details: According to the new procedure laid out by the tax department, income tax refunds are being issued only electronically. That means refunds are issued directly to the bank accounts of the taxpayer. In case the bank account number filled in the tax form is incorrect, the tax refunds will be delayed till the information is corrected. You can correct the bank account details online on the income tax department’s portal. Also, it is important that the bank account that you are providing is linked to the permanent account number (PAN).
Not prevalidated the bank account: The bank account has to be prevalidated for getting the refund. You can go to the income tax department’s website, do a log-in using your PAN and password, and then go to profile settings. There you will find an option to prevalidate your bank account. If your bank is integrated with the e-filing portal, pre-validation will be done directly through electronic verification code (EVC) and net-banking route. You need to give your bank account number, IFSC code, mobile number and email ID linked to that account.
Not verified ITR: The process of filing income tax returns is only completed when you verify your income tax return. In case you don’t do this, the process will not be complete and your refunds will be delayed.
