About 6.25 crore taxpayers have filed their ITR utilizing the e-filing portal, whereas greater than 4.5 crore returns have already been processed and the refunds are launched. However, there can be a chance that you just may need not but obtained your tax refund.

One of the common reasons could have been the technical issue faced in the new portal and the process was delayed thereby, however, this issue has been resolved, and return processing has been expedited. Although, technical glitches or errors are some of the common factors for the delay in income tax refund. Notably, there can be other reasons why you still haven’t received your tax refund.

Additional Documents:

Your income tax refund can be delayed because the Income Tax department requires additional documentation to take the process of your refund request ahead.

To resolve this issue, a taxpayer can contact the assessing office through telephone or post. Submit the required documentation and get an acknowledgment from the officer for the same.

Outstanding tax dues:

A tax refund request can be rejected due to a taxpayer owing taxes to the IT department. A notice will be sent to a taxpayer by the department intimating about his or her’s outstanding income tax amount. If such a case arises then a taxpayer should recheck all the documents and recalculate the tax liability and refund receivable.

In case, the details you have filled in the income tax returns are correct then you can file for a rectification supporting your claim. However, if your details are incorrect, then pay the outstanding tax amount within the specified period.

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Income Tax Return (ITR) not verified:

Another reason why your refund can be delayed or canceled is that your ITR is not verified. It needs to know that without verification within the stipulated time, an ITR is treated as invalid

If you do not verify in time, your return is treated as not filed and it will attract all the consequences of not filing ITR under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

However, you may request condonation of delay in verification by giving an appropriate reason. Only after submission of such a request, you will be able to e-Verify your return. However, the return will be treated as valid only once the condonation request has been approved by the competent Income Tax Authority.

You can verify your ITR either by using electronic mode or by sending a signed copy of ITR-V to the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) in Bengaluru. You should verify your return within 120 days from the date of filing of the return so that your process can be taken forward and your tax refund gets released.

You can also e-verify using Aadhaar OTP. You need to update your mobile number with Aadhaar to e-Verify your return using Aadhaar OTP.

Further, you can e-verify using a bank account or Demat account as well. You need to have an active Demat account/bank account which needs to be pre-validated and EVC-enabled on the e-Filing portal to e-Verify your return using your Demat account/bank account.

You will receive a message on your transaction ID or email address to know that your ITR verification has been successful.

Validation of Bank Account:

It needs to be noted that only a pre-validated bank account can be nominated to receive an Income Tax refund. Furthermore, a pre-validated bank account may also be used by the individual taxpayer for enabling EVC (electronic verification code) for e-Verification purposes. e-Verification can be used for Income Tax Returns and other Forms, e-Proceedings, Refund Reissue, Reset Password, and secure login to the e-Filing account.

If your bank account details have changed then it can delay the process of your refund. The account can be validated if the mobile number and email address in the details of these accounts are similar to the primary details in the income tax portal.

If mobile number or email address has been changed in a bank account, then in the ITR filing portal, you will see a ! warning symbol next to your mismatched contact details (mobile number/email ID) in your Added Bank Accounts section. You will need to update your contact details on the e-Filing portal to match your details registered with the bank.

Here’s how you can check your ITR refund status:

Step 1: Log in to the e-Filing website with a User ID, Password, Date of Birth / Date of Incorporation, and Captcha.

Step 2: Go to My Account and click on “Refund/Demand Status”.

Step 3: Details of Assessment Year, Status, Reason (For Refund Failure if any), and Mode of Payment is displayed.