Here are the important points from the detailed information provided:
- Deadline for Refund Approvals: The Income Tax Department has set a deadline of April 30 for approving pending refunds, aiming to address concerns from taxpayers awaiting their refunds.
- Interim Action Plan: The department has prepared an interim action plan for tax refunds for the fiscal year, outlining timelines for various actions related to taxpayers.
- Approval of Pending Refunds: A significant aspect of the plan is the approval of pending refunds withheld under section 241A, where scrutiny assessments have been completed and necessary orders passed.
- Section 241A: This section of the Income Tax Act allows the assessing officer to withhold refunds if their grant is likely to adversely affect revenue.
- Refund Statistics: Refunds totaling over ₹3.36 lakh crore were issued by March 17 in the fiscal year 2023-24, compared to over ₹2.98 lakh crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
- Pending Refund Concerns: Despite the significant refund issuance, there are still complaints from taxpayers regarding pending refunds from previous fiscal years.
- Emphasis on Approval: The department emphasizes the need to approve all pending refunds related to e-returns filed on Income Tax Business Application (ITBA) for all assessment years by April 30.
- Time-Barred Cases: A deadline has been set for cases getting time-barred on March 31, 2025, under section 148 of the Income Tax Act, dealing with sending notices to taxpayers whose income has not been properly assessed.
- TDS Cases: For Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) cases, a one-month timeline has been set for disposing of all pending applications for NIL or lower TDS/TCS as of April 1, 2024.
- ITR Filing: Over 46,000 income tax returns (ITR) have been filed in the first five days after the portal for Assessment Year 2024-25 opened on April 1, indicating a significant early response to the opening of the ITR filing portal.
