Income Tax Refund

Income tax returns are tax rebates if the obligation is less than the tax paid. Refunds appear in cases where the amount of tax paid by someone is greater than the amount charged to him. income tax refund are usually handled at the end of the year. In this article, we see the process of claiming a refund.

Eligibility for Income Tax Returns

There are several cases where individuals will qualify for the return of Income Taxes. The following are the qualification criteria:

• In the case of the amount paid to taxes in the view of self-assessment exceeding the actual amount that must be paid
• In the case of taxes withheld at source (TDS) from remuneration, interest on securities or bonds, dividends, etc. Exceeds the tax payable considering routine assessments.
• In the case of taxes being charged being reduced due to errors in the appraisal process and now resolved.
• The Indian government must have an agreement to avoid double taxation, in a scenario where the same income is taxed in India and other countries,
• If the taxpayer has speculation that provides tax benefits and deductions that he has not stated.

Claim Refund

It is very important that the return of Income Tax must be claimed on time. This can be done by submitting an income tax return online through the official website. Generally, the due date for filing income tax returns is July 31 every year unless the taxpayer must get a tax audit or the same is extended by the Income Tax Department.

Checking the Status of Online Income Tax Returns

We can check the return income tax return status in 2 ways, namely:

• Income tax e-filing website
• NSDL TIN website

On the e-filing website

To check the return status of Income Taxes, the taxpayer must take the following steps:

• Visit the official income tax website: www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
• Enter your account by entering this detail: PAN, password, date of birth, and Captcha code.
• Click on ‘View Returns / Forms’
• Select ‘Income Tax Return’ from the drop-down menu and select the relevant assessment year that you want to check the status of income tax returns.
• Click your acknowledgment number, which is a hyperlink.
• A pop-up will appear on your screen which will show the return filing timeline such as the date and time of ITR submission and verification, the processing completion date, the date of issuance of the refund, etc. This will also display information such as the year of assessment, status, reasons for failure, if any, and payment method.

On the NSDL TIN website

You can also check the status through the NSDL TIN website. The refund status is displayed on the website, 10 days after the refund has been sent by the Income Tax department to the bank.

Below are the steps to check the status of a refund

• Visit the website: https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin.html
• Enter your PAN details
• Select the relevant assessment year for which the refund status must be checked.
• Enter the Captcha code and click send. Depending on your refund status, a message will be displayed on the screen.

Refund Re-Issue Request

The following steps can be followed if a refund occurs due to a processing error:

1. Visit the income tax e-filing website: www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
2. Click on the ‘My Account’ tab and select the ‘Service Request’ option.
3. Select the request type as ‘New Request’ and request a category as ‘Refund Refund’.
4. A new screen will appear indicating the details such as PAN, type of return, year of assessment, recognition number, communication reference number, and response.
5. Click ‘Send’.
6. The system will immediately request to submit the Bank’s taxpayers and address information.
7. This application will then pass the verification process using an electronic verification code (EVC) or digital signature certificate (DSC), after which the process will be completed.

Delays in Refund

Delays in refunds will be compensated with an interest rate of 6% per month by the Income Tax Department. Interest on the refund amount is calculated from the date of payment of the tax until the actual payment date of the refund. It is important that interest can only be paid if the amount of tax refund is charged more than 10% of the tax that must be paid by the taxpayer. However, the amount of interest for that period will not be paid by the Income Tax Department if the delay is caused by the taxpayer.