Even as several days have passed since the end of the due date of ITR filing for AY 2023-24, several taxpayers are waiting for refunds. July 31 was the due date of Income Tax Return filing for taxpayers whose accounts don’t need to be audited.
Following the regulatory obligation of ITR filing before the due date, more than 6.7 crore taxpayers filed their returns by July 31. However, the Income Tax Department is yet to process all the returns filed by July 31, which is apparently the reason behind the delay in refunds in some cases.
Many taxpayers, who have not received refunds, have been complaining to the Income Tax Department on the X platform (formerly Twitter) regarding delays in their refunds. One such taxpayer named Devidas Mane on August 16 asked whether there is a time limit for refunds. He claimed to have filed ITR in June 2023 itself but his refund was not yet processed.
While replying to Mane, the Income Tax Department asked him to share his grievance acknowledgement number to escalate the issue with the team concerned. When the taxpayer shared the acknowledgement number, the IT Department assured him saying they have forwarded the grievance acknowledgement numbers to the team concerned and they are looking into it.
Many other taxpayers have also shared similar complaints with the Income Tax Department on X.
On August 17, a taxpayer named Sandeep Singh claimed he had submitted ITR on Jule 13th but had not received any refund.
On August 16, a taxpayer named Manish Solanki said he had filed his ITR on 14th June and also e-verified it. But his return has not been processed even after two months of ITR filing.
On August 17, a taxpayer named Nirbhay Anand said he had filed his return on 30th June but it has not yet reached the processing stage.
On August 17, a taxpayer named Akashkumar Bhaktaraya claimed he filed his return on 5th July but it has not been processed yet.
On August 12, a taxpayer named Janarthanan said he had raised a refund reissue request on 24th July but he has not received his refund yet.
On August 8, a taxpayer named Praveen R said he had submitted his ITR on June 14th but still there was no update from the department on the refund.
In all the above cases, the Income Tax Department’s social media handle has been asking taxpayers to share their details including PAN, mobile number and grievance acknowledgement number or write a mail to orm@cpc.incometax.gov.in.
Why there is a delay in Income Tax Refund?
ITR processing and refund may be delayed in cases where the taxpayers have not verified their returns after filing. As per data on the Income Tax e-filing website, around 6.28 crore of the total approx. 6.86 crore returns filed were verified by taxpayers till August 13.
The refund may also be delayed if the Income Tax Department has not processed the ITR. Delays in processing generally happen when there are complexities in returns filed by taxpayers. In such cases, the tax department sends a notice/intimation after processing (Know about types of Income Tax Notices here). Till August 13, only around 4.6 crore returns were processed by the tax department. More than 2 crore returns were yet to be processed till August 13.
How much time does it take to get a refund?
This year, a large number of taxpayers have received their refunds within a few days of ITR filing.
According to tax experts, it may take 20 to 45 days for the processing of refunds by the Income tax department. However, this is just an approximate time frame. The maximum time limit to process ITR and send an intimation by CPC is 9 months from the end of the financial year in which the return has been furnished.