Though the last date of filing income tax returns (ITR) for the assessment year 2021-22 has been extended till December 2021, a lot of salaried individuals are already done with the process. Some of these individuals, who paid more tax than their actual liability, may be now waiting for their tax refund.
The request for a refund is placed at the time of filing ITR. Once the income tax department processes your ITR and confirms it, the taxpayers eligible for a refund receive an intimation and the amount is credited to their accounts. However, sometimes there is a delay in crediting of the account.
If you are among those who have already filed your ITR for the financial year 2020-21 and are now waiting for the refund, here’s what could have caused the delay or non-payment.
When Do Refunds Get Delayed?
If you have not received a refund, it could be due to one of the following reasons. Firstly, your refund may not have been processed yet, but then you can track the status easily.
Secondly, you may not be eligible for a refund at all. There’s always the possibility of a calculation gone wrong. Or, you may simply have forgotten to include an income from an investment or saving that the department may have taken into account via Form 26AS.
Thirdly, the income tax department may have processed your return and determined a refund, but it may not have reached you yet. This could be because you gave the wrong address (in case you asked for the refund through a cheque) or the wrong bank account number (in case of direct credit).
Fourthly, the time taken for the refunds also depends on the specific case. “Generally, it takes a minimum of 15-90 days to get the refund. The refund processing time depends on the complexity of ITR like Foreign Tax Credit (FTC), type of ITR like ITR 1, 2,3,4 etc. ITR 2 and ITR 3 will take more time when compared to ITR 1 and 4,” says Dasari. He adds that a taxpayer who is claiming FTC may undergo manual processing through a tax officer which may take six months to a year.
What You Can Do
“You can track the status of your refund in two ways,” says Suneel Dasari, founder, CEO, EZTax.in, an online income tax filing portal. Visit https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refund-status-pan.html and enter your permanent account number (PAN ), the relevant assessment year and the captcha. Alternatively, you can log in to the income tax portal and check the status from there. Ensure that your bank account is linked to your PAN for an easy process of your refund.
If your refund has been returned, you could log in to the tax filing website and raise a refund re-issue request. If your bank account or address was wrong, you would need to update it.
If you have any queries with respect to your IT refund, you could contact the IT department helpline number Toll-Free No. 1800-180-1961 or send an e-mail at refunds@incometaxindia.gov.in.
