I-T Department refunds over Rs 51,000 crore between April-Aug

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The income tax (I-T) department has issued refunds to the tune of Rs 51,531 crore to close to around 23 lakh taxpayers across the country between April 1 and August 23. The Income Tax Department announced in a series of tweets on August 29. I-T refunds of Rs 14,835 crore have been issued in 21.70 lakh cases, while corporate tax refunds to the tune of Rs 36,696 crore have been issued in 1.28 lakh cases, the I-T department added.

CBDT issues refunds of over Rs. 51,531 crore to more than 22.99 lakh taxpayers between 1st April,2021 to 23rd August,2021. Income tax refunds of Rs. 14,835 crore have been issued in 21,70,134 cases &corporate tax refunds of Rs. 36,696 crore have been issued in 1,28,870 cases(1/5)

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) August 29, 2021

CBDT issues refunds of over Rs. 95,853 crore to more than 25.55 lakh taxpayers between 1st April, 2020 to 25th August, 2020. Income tax refunds of Rs. 29,361 crore have been issued in 23,91,517 cases & corporate tax refunds of Rs.66,493 crore have been issued in 1,63,272 cases.

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) August 26, 2020

Sharp decline as compared to 2020

These figures point towards a sharp fall in tax refunds as compared to the previous year. I-T department between April 1 and August 25, 2020, had issued refunds of over Rs 95,853 crore to more than 25.55 lakh taxpayers.

During that period, I-T tax refunds of Rs 29,361 crore were issued in 23.91 lakh cases, while corporate tax refunds of Rs 66,493 crore were disbursed in 1.63 lakh cases.

The department didn’t reveal the comparative data or any other additional information to shed more light on the decline in tax refunds. Multiple complaints were received from the taxpayers in the past regarding the faulty new tax filing portal and the slowdown in tax filing and payments has been attributed to the decline in refunds compared to the last year, according to a report in The Times of India.

In a subsequent tweet, the I-T department said that to date 93% of the refund claims in Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for Assessment Year 2020-21 have already been processed. It added that refunds of over Rs 15,269 crore have been issued in the past week and they will be credited to taxpayers shortly.

In the previous financial year (FY20-21), refunds of Rs 2.62 lakh crore were issued to over 2.37 crore taxpayers, which exceeded that of FY19-20 by over 40%, the I-T department said in a tweet. “It may be noted that this included the refunds expedited in a series of measures providing relief to taxpayers during the pandemic,” the department added.

The I-T department also said that they are in the process of communicating with taxpayers to resolve matters of pending refunds for AY 20-21. “Response from taxpayers would be required in cases involving notices for prima facie adjustments, defects, adjustment u/s 245, and refund failure due to bank account mismatch,” the I-T department added. They have also requested taxpayers to respond quickly so that matters related to ITRs could be expedited.

“The Department requests taxpayers to respond online quickly so that ITRs in such cases of AY 20-21 can be processed expeditiously. The Department has also commenced processing of ITRs 1 and 4 for AY 21-22 and refunds, if any, will be issued directly to the bank account of the taxpayer,” the I-T department said in a tweet.