Finance Ministry to review refund delays, investigate DGGI practices, and improve tax system efficiency to support business growth and trust.
Saloni Kumari | Jun 15, 2025 |
Finance Minister Calls for Speedy Tax Refunds and Faster Resolution of GST Investigations
In reference to the recent reports, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a meeting with senior tax officials in the upcoming fortnight to encourage faster processing of tax refunds and solve issues over the investigation performed by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI). According to the senior government sources, the meeting will be aimed towards enhancing taxpayer services, managing legal processes in an improved manner, and ensuring tax authority responsibility.
The Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, is anticipated to organise two essential meetings. The first meeting is scheduled to be held with the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), and the second meeting will be held on Friday, June 23, 2025, with the principal chief commissioners of income tax.
One of the senior officials of the government has confirmed that if refund processing delays for more than 60 days, they will be considered under inspection, and principal chief commissioners (CCs) of GST and customs will then need to explain the reason behind them, even in cases of refund rejection. Officials said that these refund delays take away the money businesses need to run their daily operations, especially when having enough cash is very important for the growth of the economy.
The review will mainly focus on refund delays related to income tax, GST, and export-related payments. Exporters and small businesses often say these delays are major problems. Even though digital filing and processing of income tax returns have improved in recent years, the minister is likely to point out issues like system errors and requests for corrections that are still pending.
The industry has numerous times raised its voice regarding the “open-ended” nature of DGGI inspection; some of them even stretch for more than 180 days. The finance minister’s aim to run an investigation on such cases indicates that there will be stricter monitoring of tax officers who conduct investigations. In accordance with a senior CBIC official, “the government wants to ensure that enforcement does not become a tool of harassment or delay for compliant taxpayers.”
The Finance Ministry will also check how long cargo stays at ports and airports. They will review how well customs risk-check systems are working. Officials have been asked to give data on how long it takes to clear and check goods in each area so they can find and fix steps that slow down imports and exports.
The long-term push collaborates with the mentioned objective of the central government to make India a business-friendly country and an attractive economy, especially now, as global supply chains are trying to depend less on China and find other options. Easy and timely processing of tax refunds is an essential part involved in enhancing the ease of doing business rankings of India.
India’s tax department has made good progress in going digital, with quicker refunds through the Faceless Assessment system and easier return filing under the new GSTN 2.0 system. But people involved say that the actual work done on the ground is still slower than the changes in policy.
By fixing refund delays and speeding up investigations, the government wants to release more cash for businesses, make the tax system more reliable, and rebuild trust between businesses and tax officers.
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