Exaggerated, bogus claims to get refunds punishable offence, warns I-T dept

The I-T Department has asked income tax return filers to not make bogus claims for expenses, under-report their earnings or exaggerate deductions as this is a punishable offence and causes a delay in issuance of refunds.

The ITR filing season for assessment year 2024-25 will end on July 31 for all categories of taxpayers whose accounts are not supposed to be audited.

According to the Income Tax Department and its administrative body Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), over five crore ITRs have been filed, as of July 26.

In a recent public communication, the Income Tax Department asked taxpayers to file their returns correctly to get timely refunds.

"Refund claims are subject to verification checks, which may cause delays. Accurate filing of ITR leads to quicker processing of refunds. Any discrepancies in the claims made will prompt a request for a revised return (to be filed by the taxpayer)," it said.

It cautioned ITR filing taxpayers to not claim "incorrect" Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) amounts, not "under-report" their income or "exaggerate" deductions or submit claims for "bogus" expenses.

The department informed the taxpayers that their claims should be "correct and accurate."

"Filing a false or bogus claim is a punishable offence," the public communication said.

Taxpayers can claim a variety of deductions and exemptions to lower their tax liability under the old ITR filing regime while those opting for the new regime will get a lower tax rate but cannot avail these benefits.

CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal had recently told PTI during a post-Budget review that more than 66 per cent of ITR filings this time were under the new regime which is being promoted by the government to make the direct tax system better and simpler.

The communication stated that in case due refunds are delayed, taxpayers should check their e-filing account to see if the I-T department has sent them any message in this context and if yes, then it should be responded through the "pending action and worklist section" tab.

CBDT chief Agrawal was also asked about the recent Budget proposal of withholding the refund being extended up to 60 days, from the existing thirty days, from the date on which such assessment or reassessment is made.

He said such cases "would not be very substantial in numbers."

"This is basically in those cases where there is already a demand in the case of the same assessee or the demand is likely to arise," Agrawal said.

Suppose, he said, the refund has been generated but the assessment proceeding is going on and it is felt that there is a demand that is likely to come.

"The provisions are that once the assessment is completed, then an assessee gets 30 days to pay the demand. So, demand gets due 30 days after the assessment and therefore, to adjust the refund, that 30-day period has to be there, and therefore, this timeline.

"It is just rationalising that effectively. But then those refunds would be not very substantial in number, they would be very minuscule. It is only enablement," the head of the direct taxes body said.