What Should You Do If Your Income Tax Refund Is Delayed?

The government has issued income tax refunds of Rs 2.40 lakh crore between April 1, 2022, and January 10, 2023, which is 58.74 per cent more than what was done during the same period the year before, according to a statement by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on January 11, 2023.

But what would you do if your income tax refund is delayed? Sometimes, people file their income tax on time, yet their refund is delayed. According to tax experts, this could be due to several reasons: the income tax department could be handling a large number of returns, hence the delay, or you might not have linked your nominated bank with Aadhar, or you have not nominated the right bank where the money could be transferred, besides other reasons. It is important to know the reasons and to take action accordingly.

“The refund might not have reached you due to several reasons. You may receive a notice from the department stating the outstanding tax amount. In this case, check all your documents and recalculate the tax liability and refund receivable. If the figures you have filed in the returns form are correct, file a rectification return under Section 139(4) supporting your claim. Or you might have forgotten to add a deduction. There could be other reasons, too,” says Archit Gupta, founder and CEO of Clear, a tax portal.

What should you do if you have not received the refund yet?

If you have not received the refund yet, you can check the refund status by logging into the income tax e-filing portal. You must follow the below steps to view the refund status:

· First, visit the income tax e-filing portal and log in to your account using your login credentials.

· Second, click on e-File>Income Tax Returns>View Filed Returns.

· Third, you must go to the relevant assessment year if you want to check the refund and the ITR status.

· Fourth, the status of your refund will be displayed in a new window along with the information.

· Fifth, if your ITR is processed but refund is not issued, it will show the status ‘Processed with refund due’. It normally takes 20 to 45 days after the ITR processing to receive the refund amount.

“You can also visit the tin-nsdl website (https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin.html) to check the income tax refund status. The refund status will be displayed after you enter the PAN, relevant assessment year, and the captcha code in the above link,” says Gupta