The Government gives another helping hand to small taxpayers in fighting COVID-19 crisis by immediately issuing all pending Income Tax, GST & Customs refunds up to Rs. 5 Lakhs.
Income Tax Refund means when you have paid more taxes (either by way of TDS or TCS or Advance Tax or Self-Assessment Tax) than you’re supposed to. The tax is calculated after taking into consideration all the deductions and exemptions at the time of filing of Income Tax Return.
For claiming your income tax refund or TDS refund all you need to do is give a written proof to the Department about your Income and deduction details, by way of filing your Income Tax Return. Just make sure that you provide the details of all your income and tax deducted/ collected/ paid during the relevant year to ensure the component of refund is reflected in your income tax return. Remember, to claim your Income Tax Refund, online filing of the return is a must.
Don’t worry, if you missed the bus, you can still file Belated/Late Return under section 139(4) and you’re good to go! To know more about Belated Return, refer to our blog
The filing for Financial Year (FY) 2019-20 Assessment Year (AY) 2020-21 will begin from 1st April 2020. The due date for which is 31st July 2020 but the belated return can be filed till 31st March 2021. After filing & e-verifying your return, use our tool to check your ITR refund status.
Also, for FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) the last date to file belated income tax return is 31st March 2020.
First make sure that you have verified your Income Tax Return within 120 days because once your ITR has been verified, only then it will be further processed by the Income Tax Department.
To know how to verify your Income Tax Return, refer to our guide.
As per the procedure, the Income Tax Department processes the refund only after processing your ITR.
Generally, it takes 30-45 days from the date of e-verification of your Income Tax Return to get your refund credited. However, for the returns verified through sending of ITR-V to CPC Bengaluru, it may take some more time.
Income Tax Return Filing is the prerequisite for getting Income Tax Refund. Previously, the Income Tax Department gave taxpayers the freedom to file previous two years’ return but from FY 2017-18 return can only be filed till the end of the relevant assessment year. This means that for AY 2019-20 and 2020-21 ITR can be filed and revised within one year only.
In case, you have refund due for the years preceding the aforesaid year and you forgot to file an income tax return for those years, then you can take respite of CBDT Circular No: 9/2015 to get a refund for previous six assessment years. So, as per this provision, you can claim a refund for the AY 2013-14; AY 2014-15; AY 2015-16; AY 2016-17; AY 2017-18 and AY2018-19.
This circular can be used only where your refunds are the result of the excessive deduction/collection of tax and/or excess deposit of advance /self-assessment tax.
For taking benefit of the above circular, you need to make an application to the relevant authority depending upon the amount of claim.
Amount of claim (refund / loss) for any one assessment year | Application To: |
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10 Lakhs or less | Principal Commissioner of Income-tax/ Commissioner of Income-Tax |
More than Rs.10 Lakhs but less than Rs. 50 Lakhs | Principal Chief Commissioners of Income-tax/Chief Commissioners of Income-tax |
More than 50 Lakhs | Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) |
Note: These authorities have all the powers to make necessary inquiries or scrutinize to ascertain the correctness of the claim and accept/ reject your application. Also, in such cases the Income Tax department shall not pay any interest on the delayed refunds.
Status | Meaning |
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No e-filing has been done |
You have either not filed your return or filed it manually. To be eligible for a refund, you are required to file your return online as the returns filed offline are not qualified for a refund from F.Y. 2014-15. E-file your returns for free now from Tax2win.in or take the help of our expert CAs |
Refund is already credited to your bank, please contact your bank. |
Refund has been processed and credited to your Bank Account If your refund has not been credited, then contact: CMP, State Bank of India Address: Survey No.21 Opposite : Hyderabad Central University, Main Gate, Gachibowli, Hyderabad -500019 Email: [email protected] Toll free Number: 1800 425 9760 |
Refund cheque has already been encashed. |
Your income tax refund process is complete & it has been credited to your Bank Account and the same has been encashed. If your refund has not been credited, then contact: CMP, State Bank of India Address: Survey No.21 Opposite : Hyderabad Central University, Main Gate, Gachibowli, Hyderabad -500019 Email: [email protected] Toll free Number: 1800 425 9760 |
Refund Not Determined |
As per the Income Tax department, no refund is determined after processing of your ITR |
Unable to credit refund as the account number provided by you is incorrect. |
This means that the account number provided by you was incorrect. You are requested to apply for refund reissue by providing the correct account number to claim your refund. |
It may be that your return has been treated as the defective Return. For exact reason, you can check this on your income tax website user account. |
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ITR Processed but need to submit rectification request |
This may occur due to a mismatch in the calculation of the department & ITR filed. For this you may receive an intimation from the department to submit a https://tax2win.in/guide/rectify-income-tax-return-u-s-154-1-rectification-request |
Return submitted. Processing rights transferred to Jurisdictional Assessing Officer. |
This implies that your return will be processed by your Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (AO). Please contact AO for further details. Click here to know your AO. Need help from an Expert CA ? Click here. |
Return Submitted and not verified |
This implies that your return has been submitted successfully but it has not been e-verified either through post or online mode. Further, until and unless you verify your return, it would not be processed by the income tax department. So, please verify within 120 days from the date of filing. How to e-verify please read. |
Return Processed with No Demand and No Refund |
It implies that your return has been processed successfully without any additional tax payable or refund due. Further, you can check the details from the intimation received u/s 143(1) on your mail id. |
Return Processed and Tax Demand Determined |
This implies that your Income has been assessed by the Income tax department from your filed ITR and tax payable amount has been determined upon it. You can check the details from the intimation received u/s 143(1) on your mail id. In that case you need to submit the response through the E-Filing website under “efile tab” -> “Response to outstanding tax demand”. Need help from Expert CA? Click here. |
Return Processed. Refund determined and Sent to Refund Banker. |
This implies that your refund claim has been forwarded to the refund banker for processing. So, wait for some more days and the refund amount will be credited in the bank account mentioned by you at the time of filing the return. |
Return Processed and Refund returned Unpaid |
This implies that the income tax department has sent a refund to you but either your address is wrong or bank details provided are incorrect, due to which refund was not credited/paid. In that case you need to place a refund reissue request stating the failure reason under “My Account” -> Service -> “Refund reissue request”. Need help from Expert CA? Click here. |
e-Return for this PAN and Acknowledgement Number has been digitally Signed |
This implies that your return has been filed successfully and it is digitally signed. |
Return Submitted and Under Processing |
This implies that your Income-tax Return is still not processed.It is under process. Further, no need to worry if you have e-verified or sent your signed ITR V by post as it will definitely be processed by the department sooner or later and then you will receive a refund. It would be credited along with interest |
Return Processed and Refund Paid |
Congratulations! This implies that your return as well as refund has been processed successfully and the refund has been credited in your bank account. Now, no further action is needed from your side for this year. |
Return Submitted and Verified |
This implies that your return has been submitted and successfully verified. It will now be processed by the Income Tax Department. So, you have to wait for some more days |
Invalid Return |
This implies that your return has been treated as an invalid return by the Income Tax Department. You need to file your return again in this case. Need help from Expert CA? Click here. |
Return Processed and Rectification Rights Transferred To Assessing Office |
This implies that your return has been processed. However, for rectification, you need to contact your Assessing Officer as the rectification rights have been transferred by CPC. So, instead of the online route, you have to submit your rectification request to your local AO directly. For more information/ query, please feel free to call us at +91 9660996655 or write to us [email protected] and our expert CAs will be happy to assist you. |
Return Processed. Refund Adjusted Against Demand |
If any previous amount outstanding by the department, then the department will adjust the amount you owed in the current year’s refund. But before adjusting that amount they will send you a notice u/s 245, stating that they are adjusting your refund with the previous years' outstanding amount. You have to submit your response to it that whether you agree with department or not. If the response is not submitted timely then department adjust the demand and processed the return after adjusting the demand. For more information/ query, please feel free to call us at +91 9660996655 or write to us [email protected] and our expert CAs will be happy to assist you. |
The Refunds are sent by the Income Tax Department in two ways-
RTGS/NECS: This is the fastest facility provided by the department to get refunds. Under this facility your refund is directly credited in your bank account.
Paper Cheque: Under this facility the department sends an account payee cheque to you. This is comparatively time consuming.
The Income Tax Department has altered the process of claiming the ITR refund a bit. It has been made compulsory by the IT Department to pre-validate your bank account in which you wish to receive the income tax refund. Pre Validating bank account alone is not enough, the individual also needs to link the PAN with the bank account.This has come into force from March 1, 2019.
Yes, the Income Tax department takes the responsibility of granting a simple interest @ 0.5 percent per month to make your delayed refund a rewarding experience.This is how the interest on refund will be calculated
In the case of refund arising out of TDS / TCS / Advance Tax – Interest is calculated @0.5% for every month or part of a month for a period starting on 1st April of the relevant AY till the date of grant of refund in case the return is filed on time i.e. on or before the due date. However, if the return is not filed within the due date the period of interest shall be from the date of filing the return to the date of grant of refund.In this case, if the refund is less than 10% of the tax determined under assessment or in intimation u/s 143(1), then you are not entitled to any interest.
In the case of refund arising out of self-assessment tax u/s 140A – Interest is calculated @0.5% for every month or part of a month for a period starting from the date of filing of return or payment of tax, whichever is later to the date of grant of refund. In this case also, if the refund is less than 10% of the tax determined under assessment or in intimation u/s 143(1), then you are not entitled to any interest.
In case of variation in the amount of refund – Where, as a result of an order u/s 143(3) / 144 / 147 / 154 / 155 / 250 / 254 / 260 / 262 / 263/ 264 or an order of the Settlement Commission u/s 245D (4), the amount of refund payable has been increased or reduced, then the amount of interest shall be increased or reduced accordingly. The assessing office may issue a demand notice for recovery of excess interest paid in a case where the interest is reduced.
In any other case – Interest is calculated @0.5% for every month or part of a month for a period from the date of payment of tax to the date of grant of refund. Suppose, Ms. Gupta has paid advance taxes of Rs. 50,000 over the year when she was actually liable to pay a tax of Rs. 30,000 only, then, in that case, she is entitled to a refund of Rs. 20,000/- along with the interest @0.5%. Let’s say, that Ms Gupta filed her return on 5.09.2019 i.e., after the due date and the refund of Rs. 20,000 is received by her on 30.11.2019, then, the interest payable shall amount to Rs. 300/-. (Rs. 20,000 x 0.5% x 3 months)
Notes: Interest on Refund in case of Appeals/Revision of IT orderIn case, any refund arises out of Income Tax Appeal or revision of passed orders, then you are entitled to additional interest over and above the one specified earlier, for delay beyond the time prescribed by the department (3 months from the end of the month in which the appellate order is received by the PCCIT/ CCIT / PCIT/ CIT or in case of revision, 3 months from the end of the month in which the order is passed by the PCCIT/ CIT) @ 3 percent per annum for the period beginning from the date following the date of expiry of prescribed period till the income tax refund date.
First verify your Income Tax Return, then track the status of your income tax refund with the department. In case, you have still not received your refund then one of the reasons for the ITR refund delay could be due to a problem in your bank account or address details.
In such a situation, you can make a request for refund reissue to the Income Tax Department but only after receiving an "Intimation"
Simple steps to apply for Refund Reissue:Click on the Submit Button
The changes made by you, in the bank/address details will be automatically updated in the centralized TIN database, and your refund amount will be reissued to you as per your updated records.
Step 5: Contact details updated through OTP verification Received on Mail ID & Mobile No.
You can check income tax refund status in the following manner:
With Income Tax loginThere are various possible reasons for income tax refund delay
If you have filed your ITR but forgot to verify the same in such a case ITR will not be processed further and no refund will be issued.
Your refund might get delayed in case the bank account number entered by you is found to be wrong. In such a case you can place a refund reissue request.
If your income tax refund is paid via cheque which is sent to the postal address. Then, if you have mentioned a wrong address then the delay in receiving a refund becomes quite obvious.
If you have filled your return after the due date then your refund also will get delayed accordingly.
If you have entered wrong information while filling your return then the IT department will ask you to provide clarifications for the same by issuing notices. The process is quite long and hence will delay your refund.
If your return is marked as defective under section 139(9), then your refund will be delayed if you don't reply to the same timely.
If you have committed a clerical mistake and have therefore revised your return then your refund will naturally get delayed.
If you have verified the returns offline by posting it to Bangalore then it becomes quite obvious that your refund will get delayed. So, one should always opt for online mode rather than offline.
As per the law, only the person whose excessive tax is deducted is eligible to get a refund. However, there are a couple of exceptions to this: When your income is included in any other person’s income (as per provisions of the law), then the latter alone can get your refund.In case of death, incapacity, insolvency, liquidation or any other reason when you are unable to claim/receive a refund, then your legal representative or trustee or guardian or receiver shall be entitled to your refund.
Ans: The income tax return is furnishing of your income and tax details yearly in prescribed ITR forms. Whereas, income tax refund means the amount due or received when taxes paid are greater than taxes actually payable. The refund can only be claimed after the successful filing of return.
Ans: Yes, broadly income tax refund and TDS refunds are one and the same thing. The excess of TDS deducted over and above the actual payable amount is known as an income tax refund. But, an income tax refund can also result from excess
Ans: Once the ITR filing has been completed you need to verify your income tax return. After verification the return is processed by the Income Tax Department and a refund is issued.
Ans: No, the income tax refund is not taxable. However, the interest received is taxable and should be shown as “Income from other sources”.
Ans: All you have to do to get a refund is file your return and e-verify the same, it is as simple as that
Ans: Download your ITR form, and from there you can check your primary bank details.
Ans: There is no standard guideline for the same, but normally it takes 30-45 days to get refunded.
Ans: Yes, it is possible to credit your refund to another account in certain cases.