In pursuance to the Government’s decision vide Press Note on 8th April 2020 to issue pending income tax refunds up to ₹ 5 lakh in order to help taxpayers in a COVID-19 pandemic situations, the Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT) today said that it has already issued over 10.2 lakh refunds totalling to around ₹ 4,250 crore as on 14th April 2020. These refunds are over and above the 2.50 crore refunds already issued in FY 19-20 till 31st March 2020 totalling ₹ 1.84 lakh crore.

The CBDT further said that about 1.75 lakh more refunds are in the process of issuance in this week. These refunds would get credited directly to the taxpayer bank account in 5-7 business days from issuance. However, in around 1.74 lakh cases, email 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 accordingly.

It may be noted that these reminder emails from I-T department are in fact for the benefit of taxpayers as it seeks them to confirm their outstanding demand, their bank accounts and reconciliation of defect/mismatch prior to issue of refund.

The CBDT appealed that it is in the interest of taxpayers to provide a response to such emails at the earliest so that refunds could be processed and issued at the earliest. CBDT has requested taxpayers to check their email and login to their e-filing account to respond to the I-T Department immediately.

The CBDT also said that it has noted in a few media, including social media, some questions are being raised with regards to CBDT’s computerised email to the taxpayers to respond within 7 days for enabling the department to process refund. In this regards, it is clarified that these are the necessary routine process related communications to the taxpayers to seek response on defective ITRs, prima facie adjustments and where confirmation is sought about certain claims made by them. In all such cases, a quick response from the taxpayer would enable the I-T Department to process their refunds expeditiously.

Income tax refund issuance accelerated as a COVID relief measure; taxpayers must respond to reconciliation emails to enable payment. CBDT implemented a government directive to expedite issuance of pending income tax refunds up to Rs. 5 lakh as COVID 19 relief, disbursing over 10.2 lakh refunds totaling around Rs. 4,250 crore by 14 April 2020 and processing additional refunds. Refunds are credited to bank accounts within 5-7 business days from issuance. Approximately 1.74 lakh cases await taxpayer responses to reconciliation emails seeking confirmation of outstanding demands, bank details, and defect reconciliation within seven days; such computerised emails are routine procedural steps to enable refund processing.