Less than 15 per cent of complaints against the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) were resolved during the first 8 days of January, data from CPGRAMS (Centralized Public Grievance Redress And Monitoring System) show. Although the exact nature of the complaints is not known, it is widely believed that most of the complaints are related to refunds, as social media is flooded with grievances about delays in getting Income Tax refunds despite filing the returns on time.
Meanwhile, data from CBDT revealed that refund outgo in 4 out of 7 sets of data released during the current fiscal so far, has recorded de-growth. This could also be reflected in social media posts. One user wrote: “Income tax refund pending for almost 7 months.” Another said: “It’s January 7th 2026 and I’m yet to receive my income tax refund filed in July 2025.” Complaint from another user says: “It is almost 7 Months, Still Not Processed. I have written off my refund & forgot about it.” The list is endless.
The Central Action Plan for FY26 by CBDT, as seen by businessline, suggests prompt issuance of refunds to avoid interest payments that have negative impact on the Budget as part of suggestions for improvement of direct tax collection. It has set a timeline of 7 days for issuing refunds, including interest from processing u/s 143(1). For proceedings other than Section 143(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the timeline would be 15 days. However, there should not be any dependency — like no statutory hold under the law, validated bank account, Aadhar-PAN linkage, Approval of JAO (Jurisdictional Assessing Officer) in case of ITBAWS (Income Tax Business Application) orders, legal heir approval, etc.
businessline’s request for clarification in delay from CBDT is awaited.
What experts say
An tax expert said that, Income Tax refunds for returns corresponding to FY 2024–25 are experiencing longer than usual delays, seemingly due to intensified verification protocols, systemic processing constraints and expanded compliance oversight by the Department. Off late, to curb erroneous or inflated refund claims, the Department has implemented more rigorous data-matching mechanisms, cross-verifying taxpayer disclosures with multiple databases such as Form 26AS, AIS, TIS, GST records, third-party reports etc, which seems to have prolonged processing timelines. In essence, “while deployment of technology and AI have enhanced detection and revenue safeguarding, their layered validations, may have contributed to delays in processing income tax refunds,” he said.
According to another tax expert, in many cases, the return undergoes additional verification or data matching with Form 26AS, AIS (Annual Information Statement), TDS credits, or bank details. Refunds may also be held up where a taxpayer has claimed adjustments requiring clarification or where the department flags the return for further review due to mismatches. Notably, delays can also be operational in nature, particularly during peak filing and processing periods. Importantly, taxpayers are advised to log in to the Income Tax Portal to check the status of their return and refund.
Now what taxpayers should do? “Where delays are linked to validation issues, such as non-pre-validated bank accounts, incorrect return data, or mismatches in Form 26AS/AIS, the taxpayer should correct such issues promptly. If the refund remains under processing without any visible discrepancy, a grievance may be raised through the portal; and in prolonged cases, taxpayers may reach out to the CPC helpdesk for clarity,” he advised.
Source from: https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/income-tax-refund-complaints-piling-up/article70489405.ece
