Income Tax Refund Status: Check ITR Refund Status for FY 2023-24 (AY 2024-25)
Updated: Oct 29
Are you eagerly waiting for your income tax refund? You're not alone. Many taxpayers frequently check their income tax refund status, wondering when that much-anticipated deposit will hit their accounts. But understanding how to check your income tax refund status can ease the anxiety and help you plan your finances better.
This article covers everything you need to know about checking your income tax return status to find out where your refund stands and when to expect it.
Table of Content
What is an Income Tax Refund?
An income tax refund is the amount refunded to taxpayers by the government when they have paid more taxes than they owe. Overpayment can happen due to excess TDS, advance tax payments, or self-assessment tax that exceeds your actual tax liability.
To check the status of your ITR refund, you can easily log into the e-Filing portal using your PAN (Permanent Account Number) and select the relevant Assessment Year to view your ITR refund status.
After filing and e-verifying your ITR, the Income Tax Department typically takes 4-5 weeks to process the refund. If your refund isn’t credited within this timeframe, here are some steps you can take:
Check Intimation for Errors: Log in to the e-filing portal at www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal, go to 'e-File' > 'Income Tax Returns' > 'View filed returns'.
Check Your Email: The Income Tax Department often sends updates regarding the status of your refund.
Use Provided Methods to Check Status of Refund: Check your ITR refund status online via the Income Tax e-filing portal or NSDL website.
How to Calculate Income Tax Refund?
Calculating your income tax refund is straightforward if you have overpaid your taxes. The formula for calculating it is:
Income Tax Refund = Taxes Paid – Total Tax Liability
Here's how it works:
Summarize Taxes Paid: The amount contains all taxes that have been paid by you for the financial year in question. Added under it are Advance Tax, TDS, TCS, and Self-Assessment Tax.
Compute Total Tax Liability: This would be your total tax liability for the year, the aggregate tax you are to pay based on your taxable income and eligible deductions or credits.
Subtract to Find Refund: If the total taxes paid are more than your tax liability, then this difference is the amount you can claim as a refund.
For example, let us take the case of Mr. Sharma:
Advance Tax Paid: He had paid INR 200,000 as Advance Tax during the financial year.
Total Tax Liability: At the end of the year, after calculating his taxable income and deductions, his total tax comes out to be INR 1,50,000.
Therefore, he is entitled to a refund of INR 50,000. He can avail this by filing his ITR.
Upon filing the ITR and completing the e-verification on time, the ITR will be processed by the Income Tax Department. The tax computation will be verified and approved. Once approved, the excess amount will get credited to Mr. Sharma's pre-validated bank account.
How to Claim Income Tax Refund?
Claiming an income tax refund is a simple process, primarily carried out during the income tax return (ITR) filing. Here is the step-by-step procedure to get your income tax refund:
File Your Income Tax Return:
For claiming a refund, first of all, you need to file your ITR. Be sure that you have chosen the correct form according to your nature of income.
Fill up all the details regarding total income, deductions allowed, and taxes paid. But be careful while entering the bank account details because the refund will be given directly to this bank account.
Check the Tax Returns:
After submitting your ITR, you have to verify it. You can electronically verify this through Aadhaar OTP, EVC via your bank account, or you can later send a signed physical copy of ITR-V to the Central Processing Centre, Bengaluru, India.
E-verification will speed up the process since physical verification takes more time.
How Your Tax Return will be processed:
The income tax department will process your return only on verification. They will verify the details of your declared income, deductions, and credits against the actual payment.
In case of a discrepancy, you may receive an income tax notice asking for clarification or additional documents.
Refund Issue:
In case excess tax is paid by the assessee, a refund shall be made.
The Income Tax Department usually issues refunds within a few weeks of verification, although sometimes it may take a little more time depending on the complexity of your return or in case of any issues as noticed during processing.
Check Refund Status:
You can check your ITR refund status online by logging into the e-Filing portal or the NSDL website.
You can know the status of your refund by logging on to your account via the e-Filing portal and clicking on 'Refund/Demand Status' under the 'My Account' tab.
The facility for knowing the status is also available on the NSDL website using your PAN and the relevant assessment year.
Rectifying Errors:
First, check whether any notice has been received from the Income Tax Department in case of failure or delay in refunds. There might be mistakes that need rectification or additional information.
Ensure that your bank details are correct in the ITR. A common reason for the delay in refunds is because of errors in account information.
Refund Reissue Request:
In case of failure of refund due to bank account or any other detail, one can raise a request for reissue of refund through the e-filing portal under the 'My Account' tab.
How to Check Your Income Tax Refund Status?
The process of obtaining the status of your income tax refund, though, is pretty easy, and you can view that online on the Income Tax Department's e-Filing portal or the NSDL website. Here's how you can do it:
Through the Income Tax e-Filing Portal
Procedure for logging into the e-filing account:
Visit the Income Tax website at https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/.
Enter your PAN, password and captcha code shown to log in to your account.
Go to Refund/Demand Status:
After logging in, click on 'My Account'.
Select 'Refund/Demand Status' from the dropdown menu.
View Refund Status:
The status page will show all information in detail, such as Assessment Year, Status, Reason for Failure in refund, and Mode.
Through the NSDL Website
Visit the NSDL Website: Go to the NSDL TIN website at: https://www.protean-tinpan.com/.
Enter Your Details: Enter your PAN, and select the Assessment Year for which you would like to know the refund status.
Checking Status: Click on 'Submit' after filling in the details. The page will reflect the status of your refund.
When will I receive an Income Tax Refund? Time Duration for a Tax Refund
The duration of receiving the income tax refund totally depends upon the accuracy of the income tax return and the speed at which it gets scrutinized. Normally, the time taken is as follows:
E-Filed Returns with E-Verification: In most of such cases where your return is e-filed along with e-verification of identity, the refunds are processed faster, usually within a period of 2-3 weeks from the date of processing in case there are no discrepancies.
Returns Sent by Post with ITR-V: The processing time gets extended if you send the ITR-V by post. After receiving the ITR-V, CPC (Central Processing Center), may take approximately 4-6 weeks to issue a refund, if applicable.
Complex Returns or Audits: In this scenario, your refund process will be extended if your return is selected for detailed audit or any other complex issues.
What does my Income Tax Refund Status Mean? Understanding Different Status Messages
Most of the common status of Income Tax Refund and the meaning attached to them are as follows:
Refund Paid: This status means that your refund was processed and is successfully credited in your bank. Please check the bank account to avail your amount.
Refund Unpaid: This status may be found due to incorrect bank account information or account dormancy. In that case, you may be required to make a request for reissue of refund through e-Filing portal.
ITR Processed, Refund Determined and Sent Out to Refund Banker: Your return has been thoroughly reviewed, the calculated amount of refund has been determined, and a check amount for that sum has been sent to the refund banker for making.
No Demand No Refund: It means that your tax calculation tallies exactly with the tax payments you have made and, therefore, no refund, nor any other tax payment, applies.
Refund Determined and Cheque Encashed: This status is displayed when the refund has been made by the issue of a cheque and the same has been encashed.
Taxability of Income Tax Refund: Is Income Tax Refund Taxable?
An income tax refund itself isn’t taxable, as it’s simply the excess tax you've paid being returned. However, if the refund includes interest from the Income Tax Department, this interest is taxable under "Income from Other Sources." and should be reported when filing your next return.
Interest on Income Tax Refund
The situation changes if your refund includes interest. It is mentioned in the Income Tax Act that while making a refund where such refund is due to excess tax paid or deducted, payment on account of any refund relating to the said amount made after some time may include interest at the rate of 6% by the Income Tax Department on such amount. This amount of interest is payable if the refund is 10% or more of the tax paid and it shall be calculated from the 1st of April of the assessment year to the date on which the refund is granted.
Taxability of Interest on Refund:
Taxable as 'Income from Other Sources: The interest component of your refund shall be taxable under the head "Income from Other Sources." This means you must report this interest as income when filing your tax returns for the year in which you received the refund.
Tax Rate: The interest is now charged to tax as per your applicable income tax slab rates. In that regard, if you come within the 30% tax bracket, then interest on the refund of tax also becomes taxable at 30%.
TDS on Interest: The Income Tax Department has already deducted tax at source on this interest at the rate of 10% if such interest is more than INR 5,000. But if your total income consists of this interest that falls below the taxable limit, then, in such a case, one can undoubtedly get back this TDS at time by filing a claim return of income tax.
Income Tax Refund Helpline
In case you need help regarding your income tax refund, the Income Tax Department has given some helpline numbers and other contact details where you can seek help related to refund status or any other refund-related issue. These contact details are as follows:
Helpline Numbers
General Queries: 1800 180 1961 [Toll-free]
e-Filing of Returns Helpdesk: +91-80-46122000, 1800 103 0025 OR 1800 419 0025
Refund/ITR Processing Queries: All such queries can be made on the above-mentioned e-Filing helpline numbers since they can also advise on process-related queries apart from technical queries.
Email Support
For e-Filing queries: efilingwebmanager@incometax.gov.in
For ITR V Receipt Status and Refund Reissue: itrvprocessing@incometax.gov.in
General Support and Queries: contactus@incometaxindia.gov.in
Online Portal of the Income Tax Department
You can also submit your grievances through the web-based grievance management system hosted on the official website (e-Filing portal) of the Income Tax Department.
Step 1: You have to log in to your account on the e-Filing website of the Income Tax Department, which is incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.
Step 2: Click on the 'e-Nivaran' tab to file your refund-related or other taxation issues.
Aayakar Sampark Kendra (ASK)
You can also get face-to-face redressal from the nearest Aayakar Sampark Kendra. The Income Tax Department has set up such centers so that communication between the taxpayer and the department becomes easy and hassle-free.
Social Media Platforms
The Income Tax Department is also available on various social media platforms where they respond intermittently to the taxpayers' queries. You can reach out to them through their official Twitter handle @IncomeTaxIndia.
FAQ
Q1. What is an income tax refund?
The amount of income tax paid in excess of the actual amount of tax liability is returned to the taxpayer, and such an amount is an income tax refund. This can be due to overpayment through advance tax, TDS, or self assessment tax.
Q2. How can I check my income tax refund status for FY 2023-24?
You can view the status of your income tax refund on https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/, which is the e-Filing portal of the Income Tax Department. You have to click on 'My Account', which opens to show another link saying 'Refund/Demand Status'.
Q3. What information is needed to view the online status of any refund?
You need your PAN (Permanent Account Number) and the relevant Assessment Year, which for FY 2023-24 is 2024-25, to check your refund status.
Q4. How long does it typically take to receive a tax refund?
In case your return is e-verified, then refund will be credited to your bank account within 2-3 weeks of processing. If sent by post, it could take 4-6 weeks.
Q5. What exactly is the meaning of 'Refund Paid' on the portal?
'Refund Paid' means that the refund has been processed and credited to your bank account. Pl check your bank account for receipt.
Q6. What do I do if my refund status is 'Refund Unpaid'?
If your IT refund status shows 'Refund Unpaid', it could be due to incorrect bank details. You can apply for a reissue of the refund through the e-Filing portal.
Q7. Is the interest received on income tax refunds taxable?
Yes, the interest received on income tax refunds would be taxable and would be required to be declared as 'Income from Other Sources' in the Return of Income.
Q8. Can I check the status of my income tax refund without logging into the e-Filing portal?
Yes, under that case, you can check refund status through the NSDL website also by entering your PAN and relevant Assessment Year at tin.tin.nsdl.com.
Q9. What does 'ITR Processed; Refund Issued' mean?
This simply means that your ITR has been processed, and a refund has been issued by the Department.
Q10. Whom do I contact in case of any problem in my refund?
In case you are facing problems or delay in receiving your refund, you may contact the Helpline Number 1800 180 1961 of the Income Tax or you may mail to the concerned Department as given on the e-Filing Portal.
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