In pursuance to the Government’s decision vide Press Note dated April 8th, 2020 to issue pending income tax refunds in order to help taxpayers in a COVID-19 pandemic situation, the Income Tax Department has issued tax refunds at a speed of 76 cases per minute from 8th April to 30th June, 2020. During this period of just 56 weekdays, the Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT) has issued refunds in more than 20.44 lakh cases amounting to more than ₹ 62,361 crore.

It is stated that taxpayers are experiencing this facet of the I-T Department which is not only taxpayer-friendly, but also that of a facilitator providing liquidity in this hard time of COVID-19 pandemic. Income tax refunds amounting to ₹ 23,453.57 crore have been issued in 19,07,853 cases to taxpayers and corporate tax refunds amounting to ₹ 38,908.37 crore have been issued in 1,36,744 cases to taxpayers during this period. Refunds of this magnitude and numbers have been issued completely electronically and have been directly deposited into the bank accounts of the taxpayers. Unlike what used to happen some years ago, in these refund cases, no taxpayer had to approach the Department to request for release of refund. They got refunds directly into their bank accounts.

CBDT reiterated that taxpayers should provide immediate response to emails of the Department so that refunds in their cases too could be processed and issued right away. Such emails of I-T Department seek taxpayers to confirm their outstanding demand, their bank account number and reconciliation of defect/mismatch prior to issue of refund. In all such cases, quick responses from the taxpayers would enable the I-T Department to process their refunds expeditiously.

Income tax refunds issued electronically to taxpayers during pandemic, requiring prompt confirmation of bank details and reconciliations. The tax authority accelerated issuance of income-tax and corporate-tax refunds by electronically processing and directly depositing refunds into taxpayers' bank accounts without taxpayers needing to approach the department; taxpayer cooperation in promptly responding to departmental emails to confirm outstanding demand, bank account details, or reconcile defects/mismatches was required to enable final processing and disbursement.