E-Paper
In relief to small businesses, tax refunds worth Rs 5204 cr released in 10 days: CBDT
The CBDT said that following the Union government’s decision on April 8, the income tax department has till date issued nearly 14 lakh refunds up to Rs 5 lakh each in order to help taxpayers deal with the current situation.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Friday said that income tax refunds to nearly 8.2 lakh small businesses (proprietors, firms, corporates and trusts) worth Rs 5,204 crore have been issued since April 8, 2020. The Board said these income tax refunds would help MSMEs to carry on their business activities without pay cuts of employees or layoffs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The CBDT said that following the Union government’s decision on April 8, the income tax department has till date issued nearly 14 lakh refunds up to Rs 5 lakh each in order to help taxpayers deal with the current situation.
With its focus on providing relief to small businesses in the MSME sector, CBDT will further issue refunds to the tune of Rs 7,760 crore soon..
The Board on Friday reiterated its request that in 1.74 lakh cases, responses are awaited from taxpayers regarding reconciliation with their outstanding tax demand for which a reminder email has been sent asking them to respond within 7 days so that the refund can be processed earliest.
Taxpayers can respond online through the taxpayer e-filing account on www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.
After providing relief to smaller taxpayers hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the government may also extend the benefit of accelerated tax refunds to large taxpayers and companies that are also looking at fiscal incentives from the Centre to have enough liquidity to survive the current crisis.
On April 8, the government had announced that it has directed the income tax department to clear all pending income tax refunds up to Rs 5 lakh immediately to benefit around 14 lakh taxpayers.
It also decided to issue all pending GST and Customs refunds to provide relief to around 1 lakh business entities. The total refund to be granted under the scheme was estimated at Rs 18,000 crore.
