Income Tax Refund Status Online

We are often rewarded in life when we do something right or exceptional. But, imagine getting rewarded for an error or mistake made.  It is a common scenario that a salaried employee often forgets to mention all his/her investments, that are eligible for deductions, thus resulting in more taxes being deducted from his/her salary. But this error/mistake is probably one of the few situations in life that is easily fixable, when filing your annual income tax return.  As per the income tax return filed by the individual, when more taxes have been paid than owed, the income tax department issues an income tax refund to the taxpayer, which we will discuss in this guide.

What is Income Tax Refund?

When a person files his/her tax return, the best thing he/she hopes for is a tax refund.  A refund occurs when the taxpayer has paid more than he/she was due to pay.  When this occurs the Income Tax Department, issues a refund, which is credited to the bank account mentioned when the tax return was filed or a cheque is sent to the mailing address.

How Does a Tax Refund Arise?

When a taxpayer pays more than the amount owing in taxes, the ITD issues a refund. For salaried individuals a refund arises because certain investment details or eligible deductions were unclaimed.  Therefore, at the time of filing his/her income tax return, after declaring all investments and eligible deductions, the amount of taxes deducted results in being greater than the amount owing, which the ITD returns to the taxpayer.

How to check your income tax refund status online in 5 easy steps

• Open https://tin.tin.nsdl.com/oltas/refundstatuslogin.html website in your browser
• Enter your registered PAN number used for Income Tax e-Filing
• Select the relevant Assessment Year from the drop down menu
• Enter the ‘Captcha Code’ showed on the screen
• Click the ‘Submit’ button

Understanding Different Types of Refund Statuses

Here is a list of different refund status which you can find on TIN website of the Income Tax Department (ITD):

• Refund has expired
• Refund has returned
• Refund through direct credit mode has failed
• Received ECS refund advice but bank account not credited
• Refund adjusted against previous years outstanding demand
• Refund processed through NECS/NEFT mode has failed
• Refund claimed but not received

[ Skip to: Most Frequently Asked Questions on IT Refund ]

Your Refund Status Says that Refund had Expired:

The validity period for refunds to be presented as payment is 90 days. If this period expires, it is marked as expired and cancelled.

Steps you should take:

• If you paper-filed your return, then you should contact the concerned Assessing Officer.
• If you had e-filed your return, then follow the following procedure:

You should go to ITD’s e-filing portal at https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

Then login with your user id and password

Now go to “My Account” tab and select “Refund Re-issue Request” from the drop down menu

And fill up all the required details to raise a refund re-issue request

Your Status Says that Refund had Returned:

It means that refund sent by speed post has returned undelivered. In such a case, refund is cancelled and retained at CMP centre.

Steps you should take:

• If you paper-filed your return, then you should contact the concerned Assessing Officer.
• If you had e-filed your return, then apply for a refund re-issue request by following steps mentioned above.

Your refund status says that refund was processed through direct credit mode which had failed:

This status appears if refund for credit to account maintained with SBI had failed. Some possible reasons for failure are as follows

• Account had been closed.
• Operations in the account had been stopped/restricted/on hold.
• The account may be Fixed Deposit/Loan/PPF account.
• The account may be NRI account.
• The account holder may be deceased.

Steps you should take:

• If you paper-filed your return, you need to provide correct account number and IFSC/MICR code to the concerned Assessing Officer. Once this information is updated, Assessing Officer will reinitiate your refund.
• If you had e-filed your return, then follow the steps mentioned above.

Your refund status says, paid. You have received the ECS refund advice but your account has not been credited:

This may happen due to wrong account information being used by the bank to transfer the amount or delay in credit to your account on part of the bank.

Steps you should take:

First you need to check the account number and IFSC/MICR code mentioned in the ECS advice slip carefully.

• If account information is correct, then you should contact your bank and enquire about the status of NEFT UTR number or NECS sequence number as displayed on TIN website.
• If account information is incorrect, you should contact your bank to find out if the amount has been credited to wrong account. You can send an email to intro@sbi.co.in for more guidance.

Your refund status says that refund had been adjusted against outstanding demand of previous year:

This status is displayed if your refund for the current year had been adjusted against outstanding demand of previous Assessment Year either in-part or in-full.

Steps you should take:

• You should verify the details mentioned on the ECS advice. If you had paper-filed your return, then you can find the details of the outstanding demand by contacting Ward Assessing Officer/CPC Bangalore.
• If you had e-filed your return, then;

1. Login to your account and select “Submit Grievance” under “Helpdesk” tab
   
   
2. Choose the first option as shown in the image below to make enquiry about your refund status
   
   

Your refund status says that refund was processed through NECS/NEFT mode which had failed:

It means that the refund processed through NECS/NEFT mode had failed.

Steps you should take:

You should verify the account details given at the time of filing your tax return.

• If you paper-filed your return, then you should contact the concerned Assessing Officer for modification in account details and raise refund reissue request.
• If you had e-filed your return, then;

1. You can login to your account on ITD’s e-filing portal at https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and choose “My Profile” tab under “Profile Settings”
   
   
2. And make the required changes in your profile
   
   
3. Once done, you can raise a refund re-issue request

If You Have Filed a Return and Refund Has Been Claimed but Not Received:

In case you have filed your return and a refund is due but not received, then you have to login to the Income Tax website and login to ‘My Account-My returns/Form’ to know the update on the status of your return. The refund may be in process since because the return hasn’t been processed by the IT department yet or the IT department has decided on a ‘no refund due’ after processing.

You might not receive the refund if your contact details like bank account number or postal address are wrong or you were not at home when the cheque was delivered to you.

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How H&R Block Help You?

Being rewarded for mistakes is not a common occurrence in life.  Making mistakes in your income tax filing can result in more hassles than rewards. Therefore, ensure your annual tax returns are filed accurately with the experts at H&R Block India and maximize on all the tax savings options available to you.