How Can Taxpayers Claim Income-tax Refund?

It is not very uncommon to see taxpayers ending up paying more taxes than their liability during any given fiscal year due to various reasons, the most common being failing to make their investment declarations on time. The income-tax department allows such people to claim a refund for the extra tax they have paid by filing income-tax returns (ITRs).

One can claim her/his income-tax refunds while filing ITR for that particular financial year. For the current assessment year 2019-20, the extended deadline for filing returns is 31 August 2019.

Taxpayers can file returns either by uploading the filled excel/java utility form on the e-filing website or by providing the required data in the online forms. After filling in the complete details on the ITR form applicable to you, click on the validate button on the ‘Taxes paid and Verification’ sheet. The system will auto-calculate the refund due to you and the amount will show up in the ‘Refund’ row.

Then, the taxpayer can upload and verify his/her ITR. The I-T department will later process it and verify the genuineness of the refund claim. After processing of return, an intimation under section 143(1) will be sent to the taxpayer showing any one of the following results: (1) Your tax calculation matches that of the tax department and no further tax is payable by you, or (2) Your calculation does not match that of the tax department and there is additional tax (called tax demand) payable by you or your refund claim is rejected or accepted partially i.e. reduce amount, or (3) Your calculation matches that of the tax department and refund claim is accepted by it.

If the refund claim is accepted, the intimation also states amount of refund that is payable and a refund reference number. The taxpayer can track the status of his/her refund by logging in at the income tax e-filing website. Usually, the income-tax refund amount is credited directly in the taxpayer’s bank account based on the details furnished. It is advisable that taxpayers mention the correct bank details in their ITR forms to get timely payment from the income-tax department.