Rs 1.23 lakh crore of income tax refund pending

Minister of State for Finance said Rs 97,825 crore are pending due to proceedings for scrutiny assessment

Refund claims worth Rs 1.23 lakh crore are pending with the Income Tax Department as on March 31, the government said on Friday.

"As on March 31, 2016, refund claims of above Rs 10 lakh are pending only in 57,783 cases for various assessment years, involving a total amount of Rs 1,23,335 crore," Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

Out of this, he said refunds of Rs 97,825 crore are pending due to proceedings for scrutiny assessment.

Some claims of refunds of large amounts are pending with the department for various statutory and administrative reasons, he said.

With a view to providing relief to small taxpayers, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has authorised the Centralised Processing Center (CPC), Bengaluru, and the assessing officers to issue refunds up to Rs 5,000 and refunds in cases where outstanding arrear is up to Rs 5,000 expeditiously without any adjustment of outstanding demands, he said.

"During the current year, till August 1, refunds of up to Rs 5,000 have already been issued in 11,91,598 cases involving a total amount of Rs 244 crore," he said.