Income tax filers get refund of Rs 2.67 lakh cr in last 3 yrs

Income tax filers were refunded a sum of around Rs 2.67 lakh crore as tax returns during the last three financial years.

In 2013-14, the amount of refund paid stood at Rs 89,066 crore; Rs 83,766 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 93,814 crore was refunded in 2011-12, according to an official release.

Government has also paid Rs 23,651 crore as interest on refunds during 2010-11 to 2012-13. However, the interest to be paid for the year 2013-14 is under compilation.

Grievances about refunds, if any, are looked into by the assessing officer concerned and appropriate action are also taken, it said.

However, government has taken various steps to improve the

efficiency and ensure speedy payment of income tax refunds.

E-filed returns are bulk processed in Central Processing Centre (CPC) Bangalore that reduced processing time substantially, refund issuance are done through refund banker, and CPC (Tax Deduction at Source) has been set up at Ghaziabad to expedite processing of refunds.

Besides, tax payers can verify TDS details before filing their return of income and take proper steps with the deductor to rectify mistakes and online viewing of status of taxpayers' refund is available for better information dissemination.

Among others, income tax ombudsman has been created to ensure prompt disposal of tax payer grievances and Aayakar Seva Kendras (ASK) have been set up at various locations in national capital region of Delhi to promptly deal with refund related grievance of the assesses.

The information about returns are sent to the tax payers through e-mail of SMS, as well as by post.