Under the income tax rules, when the tax paid by an individual or an entity or by somebody else on behalf of another is more than the taxable amount, the excess tax paid is to be refunded.
For this, the taxpayer needs to file an income tax return.
Previously, to claim a refund, the taxpayers had to fill out Form No. 30, but from 1 September, 2019, the Finance (No.2) Act, 2019 amended this provision, and now, one has to file an income tax return (ITR) to claim the refund.
When Is One Entitled To A Refund
Sometimes, the taxpayer may miscalculate and pay more tax (advance tax, self-assessment tax, etc.) than required. At times, tax deducted, such as tax deducted at source (TDS), or tax collected at source (TCS) by the employer or other deductor is more than the tax liability. In both cases, the income tax department refunds the excess tax paid or deducted.
But, the refund does not come automatically. To get it, one has to initiate a claim. It is mandatory to file an ITR to get a refund.
While filing ITR, one should verify the tax details with Form 26AS, which contains all the TDS and TCS details as well as the income details, and with the Annual Information Statement (AIS). Once the taxpayer files the ITR, the income tax department verifies the details and issues the refund.
How To Check Income Tax Refund Status
The refunds are issued directly to the taxpayer’s bank account, so one should carefully fill in the bank details in the ITR. Recently, the income tax department launched an option ‘Know Your Refund Status’ on its portal, where one can check the refund status easily.
The tax refund status can be checked in two ways:
1] NSDL website
2] Income tax department e-filing portal
Refund Status On The NSDL Website:
Here are the steps to check the refund status on the NSDL website.
1] First, open the NSDL website.
2] On the home page, write your Permanent Account Number (PAN) in the box, select the relevant assessment year, and fill in CAPTCHA. Click on proceed.
3] A new page will open and show the income tax refund status.
Refund Status On Income Tax E-Filing Portal:
Here are the steps to check the refund status on the income tax e-filing portal.
1] Visit the income tax e-filing website.
2] Scroll down the Quick Links on the left side of the home page. Click on ‘Know Your Refund Status’, which is the last option in the list.
3] A new screen will open. Fill in your PAN number, select assessment year from the drop-down option, and fill in your mobile number.
4] A one-time password (OTP) will be sent to the mobile number. Fill in the OTP and click on continue, and you will get the refund status.
If you want more details, such as when the ITR return was filed, verified, the refund issued, and the amount, you can check it on the income tax e-filing portal.
Here are the steps:
1] Log in to the income tax e-filing portal.
2] Go to e-file/Income Tax Returns and click on ‘View Filed Returns’.
3] The next screen will show all the ITR filing history along with the refund details, the dates of filing ITRs of previous years, and refunds. You can also download details by clicking on the ‘Download Form’ option to see your ITR as well as the refund amount in the PDF form.
There are a total of 112.6 million individual registered users as of 9 July, 2023.
A total of 18,956,358 ITRs have been filed for the assessment year (AY) 2023-24 so far, and 17,471,520 returns have been verified. Of this, 4,677,639 verified ITRs have been processed for AY 2023-24, according to the income tax website.
