New Delhi: The deadline to file your Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the assessment year 23-24 has not been extended beyond July 31. However, a lot of taxpayers who filed their returns well in advance are now looking forward to their refund. The ITR refund is available to those who filed their returns and paid more in taxes than was necessary for the fiscal year. But if it's taking longer than it should, here are some possible reasons for it
1. I-T Department seeking more details: The Income Tax Department could demand additional information from a taxpayer, and this could be one of the reasons for the delay in refund. To make sure the information provided by the taxpayer is accurate, the return may be chosen for inspection. Should this occur, there may be a delay in the refund process.
2. Inconsistency in calculations: A taxpayer's refund may be delayed if there are differences between the tax computations on the return and the figures examined by the Income Tax Department. If the taxpayer has any outstanding taxes, they may receive a notice. They need to review their documents carefully and make any necessary adjustments to remedy this. If the taxpayer feels the return is inaccurate, they can file a rectification return under Section 139(4).
3. Inaccurate bank account information: Taxpayers need to ensure that the bank account number they provided on their ITR is accurate. Refunds may take longer to process if the bank name doesn't match the account number.
4. Verification of bank account: Only pre-validated bank accounts are eligible to receive refunds. Taxpayers need to make sure the income tax e-filing system has authenticated their bank account to avoid delays. They need to verify that their IFSC code is current if there have been any recent bank mergers.
5. Inconsistencies in Form 26AS: All taxes related to a taxpayer's PAN are consolidated into Form 26AS. A refund may be delayed if the TDS information in the return does not match Form 26AS.
Verifying the status of a refund
There are two ways taxpayers can verify the status of income tax refund — through the NSDL website and the official Income Tax portal.
NSDL website
Taxpayers need to head to the NSDL website — tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin.html. Then they need to enter their PAN credentials to log in. After that, they have to choose the relevant evaluation year. Then finally they have to click ‘Submit' after entering the CAPTCHA code to see the status of their refund.
They need to wait at least 10 days after the assessing officer sends the refund to the refund banker before they can verify the status.
Income Tax portal
Here, taxpayers need to go to incometax.gov.in and sign in using their password and PAN or Aadhaar number. Then they have to head to the homepage and select ‘e-file.' They need to choose ‘View Filed Returns' after going to ‘Income Tax Returns.'
Then they have to verify the status of their most recent ITR for the Assessment Year 2024–2025 (financial year 2023–24).
To view the current status of their refund, they must click ‘View Details.'
By going through these procedures, taxpayers can determine whether they are eligible for a refund for their income taxes and also find out why the refund hasn't been paid into their bank accounts on time.