Received an SMS About Your Refund Being on Hold? Here’s What it Means

The Income Tax Department has now started to send SMS or Emails to the Taxpayers who still have not received their refund. The SMS/Email is being sent to the taxpayers to inform them that their refund is on hold or has been withheld under the Risk Management Process. But what does this exactly mean? Should you be worried about this communication? Let us understand what it means and what you should do.

If you are also someone who has received such communication from the income tax department, there is no need to be concerned about the same. This message means that the income tax department has detected some discrepancies or extra verification in your refund claim or the Income Tax Return (ITR) data. Due to the same, the refund is not being issued on time. You will be required to submit some extra documents as sought by the Income Tax Department. If you provide all such documents, your refund will be released into your bank account.

In such a situation, here is what the taxpayers must do:

• Check if your ITR filing was correct and error-free.
• Make sure there are no discrepancies between the Income reflected in the ITR and the data in Form 26AS/AIS/TIS.
• In case you have furnished a wrong receipt, voluntarily inform the Income Tax Department.
• If you receive a notice asking for extra information or details, make sure you submit the same within the given time.

If you do not find any such mistakes or errors in your ITR filing and everything is good from your side, then raise a complaint on the Grievance portal of the Income Tax Department.