Income Tax Returns: Committed to faster processing of returns, says CBDT

Taxpayers must authenticate their bank accounts via the e-filing site.

The Income Tax Department said on September 5 that it is committed to process the Income Tax Returns (ITRs) in a speedy and efficient manner.

As of September 5, 2023, 6.98 crore ITRs for the fiscal year 2023-24 have been filed, with 6.84 crore ITRs having been confirmed. Out of the verified ITRs as of September 5, 2023, more than 6 crore ITRs of AY 2023-24 have been processed, resulting in the processing of more than 88 percent of the verified ITRs. Over 2.45 crore refunds for the fiscal year 2023-24 have already been granted, according to a press release from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

In keeping with this, the average processing time of ITRs (after verification) has been decreased to 10 days for returns filed in AY 2023-24, compared to 82 days for returns filed in AY 2019-20 and 16 days for returns filed in AY 2022-23.

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The IT department said it is unable to process the following types of ITRs due to lack of specific information or action on the part of taxpayers. It highlighted that:

a.) As of September 4, 2023, around 14 lakh ITRs for AY 2023-24 had been filed but had not been validated by taxpayers. Failure to verify the Returns creates processing delays because the Returns can only be taken up for processing once the taxpayer has completed the verification. Taxpayers are asked to finish the verification process as soon as possible.

b.)The Department has requested more information on around 12 lakh confirmed ITRs, for which the required message has been provided to the taxpayers via their registered e-filing accounts. Taxpayers are asked to respond to such communication as soon as possible.

In other cases, ITRs have been completed and refunds have been determined, but the Department is unable to distribute them because taxpayers have not yet validated the bank account to which the refund is to be credited. Taxpayers must authenticate their bank accounts via the e-filing site.