This is What You can Do if Not Received your Income Tax Refund
Many taxpayers base their financial decisions or family getaways on their anticipated tax refunds. For a number of reasons, you could not have gotten your tax refund for the fiscal year 2022–2023.
According to Aarti Raote, Partner at Deloitte India, "Incorrect bank information provided by the taxpayer may be the cause of the refund not being received and causing a delay in ITR processing. On occasion, the taxpayer unintentionally forgets to validate the return that was posted to the site. Taxpayers should double-check this since an incomplete return will not be processed. It's also likely that the tax official may ask for some further paperwork to back up the taxpayer's assertions in the return. The tax officer would send notifications in certain situations asking the taxpayer to supply these. The tax officer will verify these and approve them before processing the return.
Failure to authenticate your ITR is another common cause of a delayed tax refund. The Indian Income Tax Department states that after filing the documentation, taxpayers must authenticate their returns using either an Electronic Verification Code (EVC) or an Aadhaar-based One-Time Password (OTP). An ITR is regarded invalid if it is not confirmed within 120 days after filing, which may impede the payment of the tax refund.
The founder and CEO of DVS Advisors, Divakar Vijayasarathy, claims that refund processing times have been faster recently. According to the most recent information, 60% of the 3 lakh and odd crores in refunds that were given out during FY 22–23 did so within 60 days of the filing of an income tax return. In the remaining situations, the timeline could change based on the circumstances.
What should one do if their income tax refunds are delayed?
If there is a delay in obtaining income tax refunds, one can verify the status of the refund by going to the Income Tax Department's e-filing site and following the instructions:
1. Visit https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal to access the e-filing portal.
2. Select the 'Income Tax Return (ITR) Status' link on the website.
2. After that, log in to your account using the necessary information.
3. Type the OTP that was sent to the registered cellphone number you provided and press "Continue."
4. The screen will show the ITR refund status.
It's crucial to keep track of the income tax refund status and any correspondence from the I-T department. You can also be asked for any extra information or proof.
Vijayasarathy advises the assessees to be careful of the following things, though:
Only until the verification procedure, whether it be e-verification or another method, is finished filing returns is it considered complete. The refund will only then be handled.
The assessing officer has the authority to modify the refund payable to the assessee against the past due after giving sufficient notice if any previous tax demands are still unpaid.
Let's also assume that any reassessment or open assessments are ongoing. In that situation, the assessing officer has the authority to suspend the reimbursement until the assessment or reassessment is finished, subject to certain restrictions.
Other times, the processing of the refund is delayed because the TDS credit claimed in the return and the Form 26AS are different, the data in the AIS and the return are inconsistent, etc.
The assessees are urged to routinely check their email accounts or e-filing log-ins for any notifications or intimations from the department. In other situations, the assessees might file a grievance for non-refund after waiting for a fair amount of time.