Income Tax Refund Status: Major Reason Why ITR Refund Is Delayed; How To Check Status Online Via PAN Card?

Many taxpayers are yet awaiting their income tax refund for the financial year 2024-25 despite filing ITR several months before the deadline. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) recently said, the income tax refunds are experiencing prolonged delay, and the credit could take place by December. The delay is mainly due to high-value ITR filing, which the department is carefully scrutinizing to avoid any mishap. That being said, if you have not received your income tax refund, then you can check the status online through the PAN card at the Income Tax department.

Income Tax Refund Delay: Major Reason

CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal told PTI that the Income Tax Department is undertaking an analysis of wrongful deductions claimed in certain cases, leading to a delay in issuance of refunds, and legitimate payouts are expected by December.

Agarwal explained that the reason behind the delay is because the department is analysing some of the refund claims that were identified as "high-value" or were "red-flagged" by the system due to claims of certain deductions.

He further said that the department has also written to taxpayers for filing revised ITR just in case if they have forgotten some details.

The IT department head, however, added that the low-value ITR refunds are being released and the remaining of refunds could be released by December.

What Is Income Tax Refund?

The Income Tax Department issues income tax refunds to eligible taxpayers whose tax payment amount exceeds the actual amount due either by the way of TD or TCS or Advance Tax or Self-Assessment Tax. The income tax refund is calculated by taking into consideration all the deductions and exemptions at the time of assessment by income tax department.

In general terms, the IT department refunds excess amount only after e-verification of the taxpayer. Then it takes about 4-5 weeks for the refund to be credited to the account of the taxpayer.

However, as per the Income Tax guidelines, if refund is not received during this duration, the taxpayer must check for intimation regarding discrepancies in ITR; check email for any notification from the IT department regarding the refund. The taxpayer can also check refund status on the e-filing as per the process detailed hereunder.

Income Tax Refund Delay: Common Reason

Some of the common reasons why your income tax refund is pending are:

1. Aadhaar-PAN card not linked.

2. Wrong PAN card number.

3. In case the bank account is not pre-validated. It is now compulsory to pre-validate your bank account.

4. The name mentioned in the bank account does not match with PAN card details.

5. In case of an invalid IFSC code.

6. If the account that you have mentioned in the ITR has been closed.

How To Check Income Tax Refund Status Online?

Step 1: Go to the e-Filing portal homepage.

Step 2: Enter the user ID and password.

It needs to be noted that for individual users, if PAN is not linked with the Aadhaar, you will see a pop-up message that your PAN is made inoperative as it is not linked with your Aadhaar.

Step 3: Go to e-File tab > Income Tax Returns > View Filed Returns.

Step 4: Now you can check the refund status for the desired Assessment year.

Click on View Details and here you can also check the life cycle of filed ITR. Key status of your ITR filing will be mentioned eventually.

Status 1: When refund is issued:

Status 2: When refund is partially adjusted:

Status 3: When full refund adjusted:

Status 4: When refund is failed:

Noteworthily, if your PAN is inoperative, your refund will get failed and you will see a warning message to link your PAN with the Aadhaar.

In case of refund failure, taxpayer can raise the service request in e-Filing portal upon receiving communication from CPC. Go to Services ' menu and click on 'Refund reissue'. Create Refund Reissue request. You will get the details of Assessment Year for which refund got failed, as per the IT department guidelines.