According to the income tax (I-T) department, up to September 8, 2022, income tax refunds of Rs. 1.19 lakh crore have been given, which is 65.29% more than refunds made during the same time the year prior.
Many of you may have already gotten your I-T return. Some people could still be anticipating it, though. There might be a number of causes for this, such as an error on the part of the I-T filer or a longer than usual processing time at the I-T department.
The new portal’s technological problems, which caused a delay in the process, may have been one of the prevalent causes. These problems have now been fixed, and return processing has been sped up. However, one of the most frequent reasons for the delay in income tax return is technological problems or inaccuracies. It should be noted that there may be more causes for your failure to get your tax refund.
6 Major Reasons for delay in a Tax Refund
1. Additional Documents
Because the Income Tax department needs more information before moving forward with processing your refund request, your income tax return might be delayed. An affected taxpayer may get in touch with the assessment office by phone or mail to get this problem resolved. Get an acknowledgement from the officer after submitting the necessary paperwork.
2. Unpaid Tax Obligations
A taxpayer who owes money to the IT department may have their request for a tax refund denied. A notification informing a taxpayer of the amount of unpaid income tax will be delivered by the department. If such an instance occurs, the taxpayer should double-check all of their records and reassess their tax liabilities and refunds.
If your income tax returns’ information are accurate, you can submit a correction request to support your claim. If your information is inaccurate, however, you must pay the overdue tax amount within the allotted time.
3. Refund Application being processed
The income tax division may also be experiencing a delay. The request can take some time to process, or the bank itself might experience a delay. To follow up on this, dial the toll-free number listed on the IT site.
4. Bank Account Verification
To obtain an income tax refund, only a bank account that has already been pre-validated may be designated. In addition, a pre-validated bank account may be utilised by the particular taxpayer to enable the EVC (electronic verification code) for e-Verification requirements. In addition to e-Proceedings, Refund Reissue, Password Reset, and secure access to the e-Filing account, e-Verification may be utilised for income tax returns and other forms.
Your refund may take longer to complete if you’ve altered your bank account information. If the email address and cellphone number in these accounts’ data match the key information on the income tax site, the account can be verified.
If a bank account’s mobile number or email address has been altered, you will see a! warning sign next to your mismatched contact information (mobile number/email ID) in the section for Added Bank Accounts on the ITR filing page. You must change your contact information on the e-Filing site so that it coincides with the information you have on file with the bank.
5. TDS/TCS Mismatch
The incorrect submission of a TDS return by the employer or TDS deductor (such as a bank, etc.) may be the cause of the discrepancy in TDS claimed in 26AS, and you may need to contact them to fix their TDS return.
6. False Information
For financial gain, you can have programmed inaccurate or false information. You must give accurate and comprehensive information to make the necessary corrections in order to lower the possibility of refund requests being denied or being delayed.
You will probably receive an email asking you to check the investment amount listed in the returns again if you have inadvertently claimed deductions or rebates on investments. Artificial intelligence has been used by the tax department throughout the years to identify any unexpected or out-of-the-ordinary deductions, refunds, or perks that the taxpayer is claiming but wouldn’t have before.
Steps to verify the status of your ITR Refund
Step 1: Enter your User ID, Password, date of birth or incorporation, and Captcha to log in to the e-Filing website.
Step 2: Select “Refund/Demand Status” from the drop-down menu under My Account.
Step 3: Information about the assessment year, status, justification (if any) for a refund failure, and payment method is shown.
What should you do if you haven’t yet gotten your Refund?
Check the refund status by logging into the income tax e-filing site if you haven’t received your refund yet. To view the refund status, take the following actions:-
Step 1: Visit the income tax e-filing portal and log in to your account with the log in information.
Step 2: Click on “e-File” and then “Income Tax Returns” and then “View Filed Returns.”
Step 3: Examine the ITR status and the pertinent assessment year for the refund you want to check. You may check the status of the refund for the assessment year 2021–2022 in the snapshot that is provided below. Click on “View details” to view the information.
Step 4: A new window will open with the details and the status of your refund.
Your ITR will display the status “Processed with refund due” if it has been processed but no refund has been given. Receiving the return money typically takes 20 to 45 days following the ITR processing.
What must you do to receive your Tax Refund?
Check to see whether you checked your income tax return online or offline if you filed your tax return and did not receive a refund within a reasonable amount of time. ITR filings are not processed until they have undergone e-verification. If the ITR V is not confirmed, you can still complete the process. Net banking, bank ATMs, Aadhaar, bank accounts, and demat accounts are the five platforms provided by the I-T Department for ITR verification.
You should also check your email to see if there are any messages from the income tax department asking for a response. If there was an email, you must reply as soon as possible. On the e-filing site, you may also submit a service request. If your refund attempt was unsuccessful, you can use the Income Tax e-filing site to make a refund re-issue request. Do not disregard any correspondence from the tax department, including emails. Even if the emails may seem regular, it is better to resolve the problems they raise immediately away than to ignore them.