The union government’s direct tax department has cleared refunds worth Rs 71,229 crore pertaining to 21.24 lakh cases as on July 11, 2020 in line with the government’s decision announced on April 8 to settle pending income tax refunds at the earliest to help taxpayers with liquidity in an effort to mitigate the financial stress caused by Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant nationwide lockdown.
“(CBDT) has issued refunds worth Rs 71,229 crore in more than 21.24 lakh cases by 11th July 2020 to help taxpayers with liquidity in Covid-19 pandemic days since the Government’s decision of 8th April 2020 to issue pending income tax refunds at the earliest.
An official statement from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that Income tax refunds amounting to Rs. 24,603 crore have been issued in 19.79 lakh cases to individual taxpayers along with Rs. 46,626 crore paid in 1.45 lakh cases pertaining to corporate tax refunds.
CBDT added that all the refund related cleaning up of the tax demands are being taken up on priority and would be completed optimistically by August 31, 2020.
The department also stated that all applications for rectifications and for giving effect to appeal orders are to be uploaded on the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA), the platform for scrutiny and reopening of IT cases. It has decided to do all the work of rectification and appeal effect on the ITBA only.
{{/usCountry}}The department also stated that all applications for rectifications and for giving effect to appeal orders are to be uploaded on the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA), the platform for scrutiny and reopening of IT cases. It has decided to do all the work of rectification and appeal effect on the ITBA only.
{{/usCountry}}The CBDT also advised the taxpayers to provide immediate response to emails received from the I-T department for quick processing of their refunds.
“A quick response from the taxpayer in this regard would facilitate the I-T Department to process their refunds expeditiously. Many taxpayers have submitted their responses electronically for rectification, appeal effects or tax credits. These are being attended in a time bound manner. All refunds have been issued online and directly into the bank accounts of the taxpayers,” the statement said.
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Earlier in April, the department had said that in around 1.74 lakh cases, email responses were awaited from taxpayers regarding reconciliation with their outstanding tax demand in response to reminder emails sent by the IT department seeking replies within a week for quick processing of the refunds.
The government, in a series of financial measures aimed to provide succor to citizens during the coronavirus pandemic, had promised speedy IT refunds where the amount is upto ₹5 lakh.
The refunds are getting credited directly to the taxpayer’s bank account in 5-7 business days from its issuance, CBDT said in the statement.