Salaried Individual Vs Business Professional: Who Receives Income Tax Refund Faster?

The Income Tax Refunds for the Assessment Year 2025-26 are being released more slowly than usual. As per the Income Tax Department’s portal, for the Assessment Year 2025-26, over 7.5 crore ITRs have been filed as of November 27. Although a large number of tax returns have been filed, many taxpayers are still waiting for their refunds. According to official data, the total refunds issued this year are down by almost 18%, recording at around Rs 2.42 lakh crore.

The department has clarified that this delay is due to the extra scrutiny of larger refund claims. This delay has raised questions among taxpayers, especially the salaried individuals and business taxpayers, about who gets their refund faster.

Many people think that salaried individuals get their refunds faster, but it is not always true. How quickly you get a refund depends on how accurate and simplified your ITR is. If you have reported your income and deductions correctly, and the system does not flag anything for review, you might get your refunds faster. Therefore, it is important to cross-check everything while filing the return. Usually, the salaried taxpayers get their refunds faster, but why?

Since the income of a salaried individual is simple and straightforward and reported through Form 16, they often get their refunds faster. There are fewer details to verify, and mismatches are rare. With this simplicity, the system can process the return more easily and quickly.

However, in the case of Business Professionals, they have income from various sources like business expenses, depreciation, loan interest, capital gains, and multiple deductions, making their return more complex. Due to this, there are high chances of their returns being flagged by the system for further investigation, which results in a delay.

Additionally, how fast you receive an income tax refund also depends on when the return is filed, how simple your income is, and if there are any issues with your return. It is often seen that those who filed early, days before the deadline, get their refunds faster.

Simple returns with just one income source are processed quickly, but returns with capital gains, losses, or lots of deductions take longer because they need extra scrutiny. Also, if you quickly respond to any queries on the portal, your refund can be processed faster.

In conclusion, it cannot be said that the salaried individuals always get their refund faster than the business individuals, just because the system prioritises them. The speed of refund is based on the timing and accuracy of your return filing. The business professionals can also get their refund faster if their return is correct and filed early.