Income tax refund is received by the taxpayers when the taxes paid are higher than the actual liabilities to the government. An online facility provided by the Income Tax (I-T) department enables taxpayers to claim any excess payment of tax. The taxman refunds the excess tax through an electronic transfer or a cheque, depending on the method used by the assessee while filing the income tax return (ITR).

Here's all you need to know about Income Tax refund status:

Many a time such refunds get stuck. In such cases, taxpayers can check the refund status online on the official website of Income Tax --incometaxindia.gov.in by clicking on “Status of Tax Refunds" tab.  A message will pop up, giving the mode of payment, a reference number, status, and date of refund.

Individuals can also check income tax status through the website tin.tin.nsdl.com (the e-governance website of National Securities Depository Limited) by entering the Permanent Account Number (PAN) and selecting the relevant assessment year.

The refund status is also reflected in Form 26AS, which is the tax credit statement summarising the taxes paid by an individual to the Income Tax department.

If for some reason, a taxpayer did not receive refund amount, ideally they should raise a service request on the e-filing portal.

In case the refund status shows as "ECS" (electronic clearing service), the taxpayers should request a reissue by providing the correct bank details. If the refund status mentions that the refund was processed through NECS/NEFT which failed, taxpayers are required to verify the account number, account description, and the MICR/IFSC code provided at the time of filing of return.

There could be various other reasons also for not getting the tax refund including inaccurate information uploads, incomplete filing, and mismatch in claimed TDS/TCS.