INCOME TAX REFUND

What is an Income tax refund?

A refund arises when taxes paid are higher than your actual tax liability (including interest). It could be in the form of advance tax, self-assessment tax, tax deducted at source, foreign tax credit, etc.

Process to claim income tax refund:

There is no separate procedure as such in order to claim an income tax refund due to you. You can claim tax refund by simply filing Income Tax Return in the usual manner. Ensure your return is electronically verified through Aadhar Number OTP. EVC generated through bank account or physically verified by posting the signed ITR-V (acknowledgement) to Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) within 120 days of filing the return.

Early return-early refund:

No doubt, a taxpayer has a time limit of 120 days from the date of return filing to verify his return. The earlier you get the verification done, the earlier CPC will process your return. Once the returns are processed by CPC at primary level for arithmetical errors etc, refund will be issued to the taxpayer. If verification of return itself is delayed, processing of return and issue of refund too will be delayed. Further, e-verification is faster compared to physical verification.

How to check refund status?

You can check your refund status online by using the below procedure:

• Access the refund pages.
• Enter PAN, relevant assessment year and captcha image and click on ‘submit’
• You will see the Refund Status displayed on the next screen
• You can also access the Refund payment details reflected in Form 26AS in the ‘Tax credit statement’.