Representative image of ITR filing.
Credit: iStock Photo
Following the Income Tax return application that extended till September 16, people are now awaiting for the refund across the country.
With over millions of tax payers received notices from the Income Tax Department in the past year, petitioners are found clueless about the process and the reason behind the long-delays.
For the uninitiated, income tax returns are final documents submitted annually by the tax payers to report their income, calculate their tax liability and claim any deductions whereas income tax refund is the amount paid in return to the tax payer by the department if they exceed the actual liability of the year.
How to track you refund status?
Visit official Income Tax e-filing website at www.incometax.gov.in
Log in using your PAN details. Check whether your PAN is linked with Aadhar, or you can link it via "Link Now" option.
Once logged in, click into "Services Menu" and select "Know Your Refund Status".
Or you can direct towards the e-file tab, and navigate to Income tax Returns, and then choose 'View Filed Returns' to check the status of the relevant assessment year.
Here, “Submitted and pending for e-verification” means you have filed but application is not received, “Successfully e-verified” means it has been received but not processed yet. “Processed” confirms completion. A “defective” status refers to notice under Section 139(9) to fix missing or inconsistent details.
Mistakes that cause delay in refund
Errors in filing personal details, bank account details, dates, income figures also includes salary of job switched in the financial year, or deduction claims.
Citing wrong assessment years can invalidate your application.
Mismatch between Form 26AS and AIS against TDS, TCS forms.
Not disclosing all sources of income including interest, rental income, capital gains, and even exempt income.
How long the refund will take to get processed?
The time taken by the Income Tax Department to verify applications, data mismatches, and bank account validation generally take 4–5 weeks.
Smaller refunds are often processed quickly which might get processed on the same day of filing application or in just a few days, larger refunds or a sum of Rs 20,000 and more are subjected to extra checks.
In terms of cross-check, the Income Tax Department under Section 143[1] scours the complete application to identify fake data.
If there is an unreasonable delay, an individual gets paid an interest at 6 per cent, starting from April 1 to the end of the assessment year.
ITR filings have shown consistent growth over the years, reflecting rising compliance and the widening of the tax base.
"Thank you taxpayers & tax professionals for helping us reach the milestone of 6 crore Income Tax Returns (ITRs) as of now and still counting," the I-T department said in a post on X.