Relief for tax payers, major refund push in last 24 hours

Tax refund credited

• Over 8.8 crore ITRs filed, 24.64 lakh unprocessed over 3 months
• Refund issuance has accelerated, many received credits recently
• Taxpayers urged to verify bank, PAN details and stay patient

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There has been a major uptick in income-tax refund payouts, especially high-value credits, in the last 24 hours, say tax professionals, providing relief after weeks of delays and a flood of social media complaints.

"Over the last 24 hours, there has been a noticeable acceleration in refund issuance, with a large number of taxpayers receiving refund credits yesterday night and this morning. In my own professional practice, several clients have received substantial refunds, including amounts of Rs 15- Rs17 lakh," said CA Himank Singla, Partner at S B H S & Associates.

About 8.8 crore income tax returns were filed up to February 4, of which nearly 24.64 lakh remained unprocessed for more than three months, minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary said recently.

Many high-value refunds are still pending and are expected to be cleared in subsequent processing cycles, experts said.

Taxpayers are advised not to panic, remain patient, and ensure that their bank account is pre-validated and PAN is correctly linked, as refunds are being released in batches as per CPC processing timelines, Singla said.

"Many of our clients got refunds since yesterday. These refunds are large refunds, including our corporate clients. This is a nice start of the year," said Pratibha Goyal, a New Delhi based chartered accountant.

Legally, the intimation under Section 143(1) must be issued within nine months from the end of the financial year in which the return is filed. For instance, for returns filed during FY 2025–26 ending on March 31, 2026, the processing timeline is up to September 30, 2026.

Under the government’s NUDGE initiative, the I-T department is increasingly using data analytics to identify potential discrepancies in returns, such as undisclosed foreign assets or income, incorrect deduction claims (for example under Sections 80G, 80GGC or 80E), excess exemption claims, or incomplete reporting of financial information.

Select taxpayers may receive communications asking them to voluntarily review or update their returns before refunds are released, Singla said.