Over 1.62 cr refunds issued till February 10: CBDT

Taxpayers are advised to verify & update their email address, mobile number on the e-filing website

Over 4.19 crore income tax returns (ITRs) have been processed and over 1.62 crore refunds issued during the current financial year up to February 10, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said on Monday.

"The Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) of the income tax department at Bengluru has already processed over 4.19 crore ITRs and issued over 1.62 crore refunds during the current financial year up to February 10," CBDT said in a statement.

"The amount of refund issued at Rs 1.42 lakh crore is 41.5 per cent higher than the corresponding period last year," the statement said.

As a result of the emphasis on expeditious issue of refunds, 92 per cent of all income tax returns were processed within 60 days, demonstrating CBDT's commitment to faster and more efficient taxpayer service, it said.

"Of the refunds issued, 92 per cent are below Rs 50,000 due to the high priority given to the expeditious issue of refunds to small taxpayers. Only 2 per cent of refunds less than Rs 50,000 are remaining to be issued," it added.

A majority of these cases relate to recently filed ITRs or where the taxpayer's response to the department is awaited, CBDT said.

"Taxpayers electronically filed a whopping 4.01 crore ITRs till February 10 representing an increase of 20 per cent over the previous year. Also, more than 60 lakh other online forms were filed with an increase of nearly 41 per cent compared to the previous year," it said.

Taxpayers are advised to verify and update their email address and mobile number on the e-filing website to receive electronic communication, it added.

"CBDT is committed to ensuring best possible taxpayer services through its e-governance programs and increasing the coverage and scope of electronic filing and processing of various forms and applications," the statement said.