As many as 7.09 crore Income Tax Returns have been filed for income earned in 2022-23 fiscal.
The Income Tax Department said it is making every effort to complete the processing of ITRs and issuance of refunds expeditiously.
Income Tax Refund Update: The income tax department has recently asked taxpayers, urging them to promptly address any outstanding demands from previous years as communicated in the intimation from the IT department. This proactive response is aimed at expediting the clearance of refunds for the fiscal year 2022-23.
With some taxpayers taking to social media about receiving intimation from the IT department regarding past unsettled tax demands, the department in a post on ’X’ had said, this is a taxpayer-friendly measure where an opportunity is being provided to assessees in line with ‘principles of natural justice’.
The Income Tax Department said it is making every effort to complete the processing of ITRs and issuance of refunds expeditiously.
As many as 7.09 crore Income Tax Returns have been filed for income earned in 2022-23 fiscal. Of these, 6.96 crore ITRs have been verified, of which 6.46 crore returns have been processed as on date, including 2.75 crore refund returns.
“However, there are a few cases in which refunds are due to the taxpayer, but previous demands are outstanding, the department said,” the IT department said.
Section 245(1)
The Section 245(1) of Income-tax Act, 1961, mandates providing an opportunity to taxpayers to make a representation before adjusting the refund against an existing demand. The taxpayer is required to agree, disagree or clarify the status of the demand.
“Accordingly, taxpayers with existing demand(s) in the previous years are being intimated of the same … Taxpayers are requested to avail this opportunity and respond to such intimations to enable cleaning up/reconciliation of pending demands and facilitate timely issue of refunds,” it said.