Many taxpayers are still waiting for their income tax refunds for FY 2024–25 (AY 2025–26), even though they filed their returns months ago. With this year’s ITR filing deadline falling on September 16, taxpayers had expected refunds to be processed sooner. While a number of individuals have already received their refunds, many others remain confused and concerned about the ongoing delay.
Reason for ITR refund delay
- Addressing the concerns, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Ravi Agrawal said on Monday that the IT Department is undertaking an analysis of wrongful deductions claimed in certain cases, which is why the tax returns are being delayed.
- Agrawal further said that the department was analysing some of the refund claims which were identified as “high-value” or were “red-flagged” by the system due to claims of certain deductions.
- “Low-value refunds are being released. We have analysed and found that some wrong refunds or deductions were being claimed. So, this is a continuous process,” he said.
- The CBDT Chairman argued that the so-called “negative growth” in refunds was being seen probably because the number of claims have also gone down as TDS rates were rationalised. According to official data from last week, ITR Refunds have dropped 18% to over ₹2.42 lakh crore between April 1 and November 10.
- The income tax department has also written to the taxpayers to file a revised return in case they have forgotten something.
“We have taken a lot of steps and our appellate authorities are working overtime to ensure that the pendency is liquidated. During prior years…because of Covid etc., pendency got accumulated, but I may share that this year more than 40%, as compared to last year, disposal has been done in appeals and I think we will end the year with a much, much higher number of appeals disposed of,” the CBDT Chairman said.
When will you get your ITR refund?
Ravi Agrawal said that taxpayers can expect their ITR refunds to be credited to their accounts by next month.
“We hope to release the remaining refunds by this month or by December,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an event.
The income tax department generally processes low-value, simple tax returns without discrepancies quickly.
How to check ITR refund status online?
Here is a step-by-step guide check your ITR refund status:
- Visit the official income tax e-filing portal at https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/
- Log in with your credentials and the OTP.
- Navigate to the Refund/Demand Status section from the e-File menu.
- Select the applicable Assessment Year (AY 2025-26).
- Click on ‘View Details’ to check the status of your income tax refund status.