89% say getting faster I-T refunds: CII

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As many as 89 per cent of individuals and 88 per cent of firms say that there has been a big  reduction in waiting time to get an income tax refund between 2018-2023, a CII survey has said.

The CII Income Tax Refund Survey presented to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also found that 75.5 per cent of the individuals and 22.4 per cent of the firm-level respondents did not pay TDS over and above their estimated tax liability.

The survey respondents (84 per cent of individuals and 77 per cent of firms) also felt the process of checking refund status was now smooth.  “The extensive measures, which have been introduced by the government in the recent years to streamline, simplify and automate the taxation regime have borne rich dividends as is evident from the upbeat survey results on assessing speed and efficiency of income tax refunds conducted by CII,” the industry body’s President R Dinesh said.  A staggering 87 per cent of the individuals and 89 per cent of firms feel that the process of claiming income tax refund is convenient, the survey said.

“The significant reduction in waiting time to get an income tax refund over the last 5 years by both individuals and firms, is encouraging as it reflects the government’s unrelenting efforts to make the process of getting income tax refunds simple and efficient over the years,” CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.

The survey was conducted in October 2023 among 3,531 respondents, out of which 56.4 per cent were individuals and 43.6 per cent were firms/enterprises/organisations. The survey was conducted at the pan-India level, wherein the maximum participation was steered from the major states.

Automation and simplification in the ITR refund process have raised the trust factor among the taxpayers towards the I-Tax department, the survey said. (With inputs from PTI)