Income Tax Return: The Finance Minister has said that the income tax processing period has reduced and taxpayers are getting refunds quickly but this year the pace of issuing refunds has slowed down.
Tax Refund Status: Responding to the discussion on the Finance Bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the House, the processing period of Income Tax Return, which used to be 93 days in the financial year 2013-14, has been reduced to 10 days in 2023-24. But the question arises that at the same speed at which the income tax returns are being processed, is the Income Tax Department issuing tax refund to the taxpayers? The Direct Tax Collection figures released by the Finance Ministry on 11 August 2024 tell a different story. Looking at this data, it can be said that the refund on personal income tax is not being given at the same speed at which refunds are being issued to the corporates.
Finance Minister said, refund is being received soon
The Finance Minister told the House in Rajya Sabha, Income Tax Refund is a subject on which CBDT has worked continuously in the last few years and for the last three years we have been continuously improving our performance. The Finance Minister said that while in 2013-14, it took an average of 93 days to process the income tax return, it has come down to 10 days in 2023-24.
The pace of issuing refunds has slowed down
Income Tax Refund is something on which CBDT (@IncomeTaxIndia) has been working in a systematic manner and we have consistently improved our performance in the last three years.
The average processing time of returns has been reduced from 93 days in 2013-14 to 10 days in… pic.twitter.com/tKbLrv5VEp
— Nirmala Sitharaman Office (@nsitharamanoffc) August 8, 2024
The Finance Minister praised the CBDT for reducing the processing time of income tax returns and issuing refunds quickly. But according to the direct tax collection figures that have come out till August 11, 2024, in the financial year 2024-25, while Rs 4,81,876 crore of personal income tax has been collected, only Rs 34,546 crore has been issued as refund to the taxpayers. Whereas in the financial year 2023-24, Rs 3,91,828 crore of personal income tax was collected, in which refunds of Rs 47,482 crore were issued. That is, compared to the last financial year, during this period, Rs 12,936 crore or 27.24 per cent less tax refund has been issued on the payment of personal income tax. That is, the pace of issuing refunds to individual taxpayers has slowed down.
101% more refund received on corporate tax
According to this data, double the refund has been issued on corporate tax. In the financial year 2024-25, till August 11, the government has received Rs 3,08,061 crore corporate tax, in which a refund of Rs 85,618 crore has been issued, whereas in the financial year 2023-24, Rs 2,52,574 crore corporate tax was collected and a refund of Rs 42,521 crore was issued. That is, 101.35 percent more refund has been issued on corporate tax this year. In such a situation, questions are being raised on the slow pace of giving refund to taxpayers paying personal income tax.
