Income Tax Department Checking for Fake Claims, Refunds to be Issued by December: CBDT Chairman

The Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Ravi Agrawal, on Monday shared that the Income Tax Department is doing a detailed analysis of the fake deductions claimed in some cases, which may delay the release of refunds. The legitimate refunds are likely to be issued by December.

He further explained the reason behind the delay in issuing the refunds, saying that the department is checking for refunds that were found to be large value or were red-flagged by the system. While the small refunds are being credited on time.

“Low-value refunds are being released. We have analysed and found that some wrong refunds or deductions were being claimed. So, this is a continuous process. We hope to release the remaining refunds by this month or by December,” Agrawal told reporters at the India International Trade Fair (IITF).

He also explained that the department and board are focusing on reducing litigation in direct tax cases. Agrawal explained that due to COVID, there were many pending appeals in previous years. However, he shared that this year, over 40% more appeals have been disposed of compared to last year. He believes that by the end of the year, a high number of appeals will be disposed of.

While speaking to reporters at the event held at the Bharat Mandapam, Agrawal said that taxpayers have been advised to file a revised ITR if they have missed reporting something.

Agrawal also noted that refunds are showing “negative growth,” which could be because refund claims have decreased, even though TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) rates were rationalised. As per the official data, between April 1 and November 10, the refund issuances have decreased by 18% to over Rs 2.42 lakh crore.