How to Check Income Tax Refund Status?

Posted on : Saturday, December 30, 2014

Income Tax Refund means when you pay Income Tax more than what you should pay, you will get a refund of the excess amount paid to the Government. Ideally, you may receive the Income Tax refund within 4-5 months from the date of filing the return.

If you do not receive your Income Tax Refund within such period, you can track the status of your Income Tax Refund in the following way.

1. Login to www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in with your PAN number, date of birth and password. If you are a new user, register and then login.
2. After your login, navigate to My Account → Refund/Demand Status and check the status of refund for the relevant assessment year.
3. The Income Tax Refund Status may be as follows:
• a) Refund Paid
• b) Refund Unpaid
• c) Not determined
• d) No Demand No Refund
• e) Demand Determined
• f) Contact Jurisdictional Assessing Officer

Income Tax Refund Status shown at Income Tax Website

Let us discuss each Income Tax Refund status in detail.

a) Refund Paid

If the Income Tax refund status displays Refund Paid, it implies that Income Tax department has issued the Income Tax refund. If you have not received the income tax refund yet, visit https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin.html and check the status of the refund paid.

1. If the Income Tax Refund status says that refund could not be paid because of incorrect bank account details, you must request for Refund Reissue Request at Incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.
2. If the status says that cheque has been issued and you have not received the refund yet within 10 days of the date mentioned in the refund status, call CPC on 18004252229 (toll free) and follow their instructions.

b) Refund Unpaid

If the Income Tax Refund status displays Refund Unpaid, the reason for non-payment of refund will be displayed on the website.

Failure of refund could be due to the following reasons:

1. Incorrect Account Number
2. No such address
3. Account has been closed
4. Invalid account number
5. Invalid IFSC code

For more information, see List of Reasons.

If you have not received the income tax refund because of any of the reasons as stated above, you can request for Refund Reissue at http://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.

Learn how to raise refund reissue request.

c) Not determined

If the Income Tax Refund status displays Not Determined, it means that your Income Tax Return has not yet been processed. Wait for your Income Tax Return to get processed.

d) No Demand No Refund

This Income Tax refund status implies that the Income Tax department has processed your Income Tax Return and it has determined that you are neither liable for any additional income tax nor entitled for any income tax refund. However, if you have filed your Income Tax Return by claiming some Income Tax Refund and still the Income Tax Department has determined that you are not entitled for any income tax refund, you should go through the intimation u/s 143(1) and try to understand the reasons for differences in calculations submitted by you in the income tax return and the calculations done by income tax department. If you find that the Income Tax Department has made mistakes while calculating your taxes, you can file a rectification return. Later, the income tax department will reprocess your income tax return.

e) Demand Determined

This status, Demand Determined reflects that the income tax department has determined that you have to pay extra income tax which is still pending. There are two reasons:

1. Either the income tax department has not given the credit to you for income tax or TDS claimed by you while efiling your Income Tax Return, or
2. There are some differences in calculation of taxes.

In such a scenario, you should go through the intimation u/s 143(1) and try to understand the reasons for differences in calculations submitted by you in the ITR and the calculations done by Income Tax Department. If you observe that Income Tax Department has made mistakes while calculating your taxes, you can file a rectification return. Later, the Income Tax Department will reprocess your income tax return.

f) Contact Jurisdictional Assessing Officer

If you observe the Income Tax Refund status as Contact Jurisdictional Assessing Officer, it means that CPC (Centralized Processing Cell) has transferred your file to your local Income tax Officer in your area. In this case, you should contact the Income Tax Officer appointed at your nearest Income Tax Department and enquire the status of your Income Tax Refund.

How to raise Income Tax Refund Reissue Request?

After verifying the status of your Income Tax Refund, you may wish to raise a Refund Reissue Request. Perform the following steps for raising the Refund Reissue Request.

1. Log in to http://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in with your user id and password.
2. Navigate to My Account -> Refund Reissue.
3. Select the Assessment Year, enter the CPC Communication Reference Number, enter the Refund Sequence Number and enter your date of birth.
   
   You can locate the CPC Communication Reference Number and Refund Sequence Number in the first page of the copy Intimation U/s 143(1) which you must have been received in your email id or by Post.
4. Select your mode of refund - ECS or Paper.
5. You can change your bank account details. If you wish to receive the income tax refund in other account (other than the account mentioned in ITR), enter the details of your new bank account.
6. If you have chosen the income tax refund as paper, enter the address to receive the refund pay order by post.

This completes your Refund Reissue Request and you should receive your Income Tax Refund within 15 to 20 days.

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