IT Department Issues Over Rs 71 Cr Tax Refund Amid COVID-19 Crisis

New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the top policy-making body of the Income Tax Department has issued refunds worth Rs 71,229 crore in over 21.24 lakh cases till July 11, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.

The IT department has issued income tax refunds of Rs 24,603 crore in 19.79 lakh cases to individual taxpayers, and corporate tax refunds of Rs 46,626 crore in 1.45 lakh cases to companies during this period, reported NDTV quoting an official statement.

The move was aimed at helping taxpayers survive the COVID-19 crisis temporarily. The government had in April announced its decision to issue pending income tax refunds at the earliest, the statement further said. 

The report further added that all the refund-related cleaning up of tax demands is being taken up on priority and is likely to be completed by August 31.

“Many taxpayers have submitted their responses electronically for rectification, appeal effects, or tax credits. These are being attended to in a time-bound manner. All refunds have been issued online and deposited directly into the bank accounts of the taxpayers,” the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the due date for filing income tax returns for the financial year 2019-20 (Assessment Year 2020-21) is November 30.