Income Tax Return Delay: The last date for filing income tax return has passed. The number of individual registered users with the Income Tax Department is 13.49 crore. Till September 16, 7.58 crore returns have been filed for assessment year 2025-26.
This time it is taking more time to get ITR refund. There are some people who had filed returns in June-July itself, but their refund has not yet come.
Experts say that this time the main reason for the delay in refund is that the Income Tax Department has increased the focus on verification and scrutiny procedures. Returns with higher amounts of refunds, higher deduction claims or exemptions are being scrutinized more.
Taxpayers may have to wait
According to Income Tax Department data, till September 22, 5.01 crore returns had been processed. This means that the process of more than one crore returns has not been completed yet. Experts believe that taxpayers may have to wait for the refund. A taxpayer who filed the return much before September said that he had filed the return in June. But, the refund money has not arrived yet. He does not understand why it is taking so long to get the refund.
Why is there delay in ITR refund?
Deloitte India Director Tarun Garg is quoted in the media report as saying that this time the main reason for the delay in refund is the tightening of the verification and scrutiny process by the Income Tax Department. Returns with large refunds, high deduction claims or exemptions are being scrutinized thoroughly. Non-matching of data with TDS, lack of correct information about bank account and delay in e-verification also slow down the processing of returns.
Tarun Garg says that generally the returns of ordinary salaried people are processed between two to five weeks after e-verification. Returns involving capital gains, foreign assets or higher deductions take time to process.
Sandeep Sehgal, partner (tax), AKM Global, said that refunds of higher amounts, more than one income Additional verification of returns having source of income, foreign income and returns having mismatch in Form 26AS/AIS is being done. He said that if the bank account is not pre-validated, there is a delay in refund. However, mostly taxpayers Take care of these small mistakes.