The income tax department is planning to reduce the average processing time for getting tax refunds after filing income tax returns (ITRs), according to Business Standard report. The tax department is mulling over the reduction of days to 10 from the current 16 days. The report added that the new timeline is expected to be implemented during the current fiscal year.
However, CNBC-TV18 couldn’t independently verify the development.
The deadline to file ITR without penalty for financial year 2022-23 ended on July 31 and so taxpayers now must be waiting for the refunds. Depending on the option exercised by the assessee while filing the annual ITR, the refund is made either through electronic mode i.e. direct credit to account or through refund cheque.
Reasons For Not Receiving Refunds
However, there are a few reasons why the refund may not have been processed yet. “The income tax refund is issued after the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) processes the Income Tax return. To receive the refund, taxpayers must designate a pre-validated bank account. There could be various reasons for not crediting the refund amount to the bank account,” says Wadhwa. Let us take a look.
Wrong Bank Account Number Or Routing Number: “This is the most common reason for a refund not reaching the intended recipient. Make sure to double-check the bank account number and routing number you entered when filing your tax return or requesting a refund,” says Sanjiv Bajaj, Jt. chairman & MD, Bajaj Capital.
The Bank Account Is Closed: If the bank account you provided is closed, the refund will be returned to the IRS. “You will need to contact the IRS to re-issue the refund to a different account,” says Bajaj.
An Incorrect Name On The Bank Account: The name on the bank account must match the name on the tax return exactly. If the names do not match, the refund will be returned to the income tax department (ITD).
Fraudulent Activity: In rare cases, refunds may be delayed or denied due to fraudulent activity. “If you believe that your refund has been delayed or denied due to fraud, you should contact the IRS immediately,” says Bajaj.
Processing Delay: “The IRS is currently experiencing a high volume of refund requests, which may cause some delays. If you have filed your tax return and requested a refund within the past few weeks, it is possible that your refund is still being processed. You can check the status of your refund on the IRS website,” says Bajaj.
Here Is What You Can Do
If your refund has not reached you due to a mismatch of account numbers, you can take the following steps to rectify the situation. “Check the bank account number and IFSC code you provided when filing your tax return. Make sure the numbers are correct and match the account number and IFSC code of your bank account,” says Bajaj. Contact your bank to verify that the account is still active and that there are no holds on the account.
The next step, says Bajaj, is to contact the IT department to request a refund re-issue. When you contact the ITD, you must provide them with your PAN (Permanent Account Number), the assessment year, and the refund amount. You can contact the IT department by phone, mail, or via their e-filing portal.
Steps On How To Request A Refund Re-issue Through The ITD e-Filing Portal:
Refund shall be issued to the pre-validated bank account only. In case of refund failure, taxpayer can raise the service request in e-Filing portal upon receiving communication from CPC.
Perform the following steps to raise Refund Re-issue Request:
- Logon to ‘e-Filing’ Portal https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/
- Click on ‘My Account’ menu and click ‘Service Request’ link.
- Select the ‘Request Type’ as ‘New Request’ and Select the ‘Request Category’ as ‘Refund Reissue’. Click ‘Submit’.
- Details such as PAN, Return Type, Assessment Year (A.Y), Acknowledgement No, Communication Reference Number, Reason for Refund Failure and Response are displayed.
- Click ‘Submit’ hyperlink located under ‘Response’column. All the prevalidated bank accounts with status validated/validated and EVC enabled will be displayed.
- Select the bank account to which the tax refund is to be credited and click ‘Continue’. Details such as Bank Account Number, IFSC, Bank Name and Account Type are displayed for the taxpayer to cross verify the same.
Note:
If the taxpayer doesnot have any Prevalidated bank accounts, then the taxpayer is directed to Prevalidate bank account Screen. In this screen the tax payer should enter all relevant details of the bank account where he intends receive refund and click on ‘Prevalidate’ button to proceed with the request submission. After this Account is pre-validated by the concerned bank, the bank account will be automatically considered for refund re-issue. This account will now be displayed under Pre-validated bank accounts in the e-Filing portal.
In case the prevalidation of account fails, then the same will be communicated to the taxpayer by CPC. The taxpayer is required to resubmit the request for refund re-issue/prevalidation of bank account.
- Click ‘Ok’ in popup if the details are correct and the options for e-Verification appears in the dialogue box. Choose the appropriate mode of e-Verification, Generate and enter Electronic Verification Code (EVC)/Aadhaar OTP as applicable to proceed with the request submission.
Note:If Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) is registered in the profile, generate the signature file by downloading the ‘DSC Management Utility’ and upload the same to proceed with the submission.
- A success message will be displayed confirming the Refund Re-issue request submission
- To View the status of submitted Refund Re-issue request :
- Logon to ‘e-Filing’ Portal https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/
- Go to the ‘My Account’ > Click ‘Service Request’ > Select the ‘Request Type’ as ‘View Request’ and Select the ‘Request Category’ as ‘Refund Reissue’
- Click ‘Submit’