How Soon Will You Get Your Tax Refund? ITR Deadline, Refund Status, and More

With the Income Tax Return (ITR) filing due date for the Financial year 2024-25 (Assessment year 2025-26) fast approaching, taxpayers are seeking clarity regarding the timelines for refund processing.

What is the ITR filing due date?

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) under the Ministry of Finance issued a notification that the deadline to file ITR for the Financial Year 2024-25 has been extended to September 15, 2025. Earlier, the deadline was July 31, 2025. The main purpose of extending the deadline was to introduce some changes, including:

• Implementation of new tax reforms
• Increased scrutiny
• Technical updates

Questions related to refund timelines, Impact of Delays, and ITR status are running in the minds of Taxpayers. However, taxpayers can track their refund status. Know-how:

Step 1: Visit the Income Tax e-Filing portal homepage.

Step 2: Select Income Tax Return (ITR) Status.

Step 3: On the status page, fill in your acknowledgement number and a valid mobile number and click continue.

Step 4: Fill in the 6-digit OTP received on your mobile number, then click on submit.

Taxpayers can also check the status of refunds via the NSDL official portal. However, the Status of the refund can be viewed 10 days after their refund has been sent by the Assessing Officer to the Refund Banker.

The status of ‘paid’ refund, being paid apart from via ‘Refund Banker’, can be checked on the official website of the NSDL portal by submitting documents such as ‘PAN’ and ‘Assessment Year.’

Reasons behind return processing delays:

Delays for return processing can occur due to several reasons, such as wrong or incorrect filing or in cases where the income tax department requires extra time to evaluate multiple entries in the ITR form, such as deduction claims.

Below are some other questions that may be appearing in taxpayers’ minds:

1. Can a taxpayer claim a refund if the return is filed after the deadline?

Refund can be claimed even if the taxpayer files ITR late. However, this is applicable only for belated filing. Therefore, a taxpayer can avail a refund only if the ITR is filed before December 31, 2025, of the related assessment year.

2. For how long should a taxpayer wait for his/her refund to be credited?

The Income Tax Department usually credits the refund within 4 to 5 weeks.

3. What is the shortest possible time to receive a tax refund?

If the taxpayer’s bank account and other details match accurately, then the taxpayer may receive the refund in 7 to 20 working days. However, on the same matter, some users on x (previously known as Twitter) posted that they received the refund on the same day (Within few hours).

What should taxpayers do?

In case any taxpayers experience delays in receiving their refund. Then they should consider the following steps:

• Check your refund status.
• Verify bank details.
• File without discrepancies (double-check their details)
• Respond to notices immediately.
• Contact support (in case of delay, use the helpline system).