Income Tax News: For taxpayers who are still awaiting their income tax refund for FY 2020–21 (AY 2021-22), there is good news. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has stated that these persons can receive their income tax refund by April 30, 2024, in an order dated March 1, 2024.
Checking Refund Status via Email
Therefore, those who would like to know the status of their refund should check their email or closely monitor their inbox for any emails from the income tax department with notification notices. The specifics of any tax refund that may be due to them will be included in this notification.
In accordance with section 143(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the income-tax department will send an intimation letter following the completion of an ITR processing at the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) within a designated timeframe. An individual’s filed ITR has been satisfactorily processed if they have gotten an intimation notice for the same. The credit of the return amount, if any, comes next.
Delayed ITR Processing for FY 2020–21
But a lot of taxpayers are waiting on their ITR for income from FY 2020–21 (AY 2021-22) to be processed. The taxpayers who filed their returns on time but have not yet received their refund are the ones who are associated with the delayed cases, which will now be reimbursed.
“It has been brought to the notice that due to certain technical issues or for other reasons not attributable to the assesses concerned, several returns for assessment year (AY) 2021-22, which were otherwise filed validly, could not be processed under sub-section (1) of section 143 of the Act. Consequently, intimation regarding processing of such returns could not be sent within the timeframe prescribed under sub-section (1) of section 143 of the Act. This has led to a situation where the taxpayers are unable to get their legitimate refund in accordance with provisions of the Act, although the delay is not attributable to them,” said the income-tax department.
CBDT’s Relief Measures
“To mitigate genuine hardship being faced by the taxpayers on this issue, Board, by virtue of its powers under section 119 of the Act, hereby relaxes the time-frame prescribed in second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 143 and directs that all returns of income validly filed electronically for AY 2021-22 with refund claims, for which date of sending intimation under sub-section (1) of section 143 of the Act has lapsed, subject to the exceptions mentioned…, can be processed now with prior administrative approval of Pr.CCIT/CCIT concerned. The intimation of such processing under sub-section (1) of section 143 of the Act can be sent to the assessee concerned by 30.04.2024,” said the order from CBDT. The taxpayer will begin receiving notifications for the same as soon as the ITR is processed.
Intimation Notice Contents
“The intimation notice shows the computation of income as per the taxpayer as well as CPC. If the calculations tally, then only a tax refund is issued. In some cases, the intimation notice under section 143 (1) also shows details of outstanding old tax demand, which is proposed to be adjusted against the refund, if any,” says Mihir Tanna, associate director-direct tax, S.K Patodia LLP, a CA firm.
Exclusions from Extended Deadline
The extended deadline does not, however, apply in all circumstances. The income tax department stated in the order that the following returns will not be eligible for the relaxation:
- a) returns chosen for scrutiny;
- b) returns that are still pending processing and for which a demand is indicated as payable in the return or is anticipated to occur after processing it;
- c) returns that are pending processing for any reason related to the assessee.