CBDT explains why refund processing is slower this year and when pending refunds will be cleared.
Vanshika verma | Nov 28, 2025 |
Government to process Income Tax Refund by this date: Know More
Many people who filed their income tax returns on time this year are still waiting for their refunds. Even though the deadline for filing ITR for the 2025-26 assessment year was September 16, and some taxpayers have already received their money back, many others haven’t gotten their refunds yet and don’t know why it’s taking so long.
Why are ITR refunds being delayed?
The CBDT chief, Ravi Agrawal, said that the Income Tax Department is taking extra time to check returns where people might have claimed wrong deductions. Because of this detailed checking, refunds are getting delayed for many taxpayers.
He said that the system marked some refund requests as “high-value” or “suspicious” because the deductions claimed didn’t look normal.
Because of this, the tax department is checking these cases more carefully, and that’s why the refunds are getting delayed. Agrawal also said that refund delays may be happening because fewer people actually need refunds this year.
This is because TDS rates were adjusted, so less extra tax was cut from people’s salaries in the first place.
He added that government data shows refund payments have dropped by 18%, with about Rs 2.42 lakh crore given out between April 1 and November 10.
The CBDT Chairman said that the department is trying to clear old appeal cases much faster. He mentioned that they have already settled over 40% more appeals this year than last year.
He also said the department expects to finish the year by closing even more appeal cases than before.
When is your refund likely to arrive?
The good news is that refunds are likely to come soon. Agrawal said that the remaining refunds should be released by the end of this month or by December.
Usually, simple returns and small refunds are processed first, while cases with mistakes, mismatches, or unusual claims take more time to check.
So basically, as the tax department finishes these checks, people should start getting updates and see faster progress in the coming weeks.
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