Income Tax Refund - How To Check Income Tax Refund Status For FY 2024-25 (AY 2025-26)?

Have you already filed your returns and are now waiting for a refund? Read on to learn about the refund process, the usual time it takes, how to check your refund status, and what to do if it's taking longer than expected.

What is Income Tax Refund?

• An Income Tax Refund is issued by the Income Tax Department if a taxpayer has paid more income tax than was due for the financial year.
• Normally, the tax is paid by the assessee at the time of filing returns after he assessess the tax liability by himself. This is the concept of Self-Assessment.
• But the actual tax liability and the tax amount paid may not be the same in all the cases due to a few factors.

Income Tax Refund = Total Taxes paid – Total Tax Liability 

How does a Refund Situation Arise? 

• Tax payment not only occurs at the time of filing the returns. It also occurs during the year when 
  • When the payer deducts TDS amount and directly pays it to government or 
  • When Advance tax is paid as per provisions of the act . 
• In some cases, an income tax refund can also arise in case the tax liability is reduced by claiming deductions, exemptions, set off of losses, or tax credits while filing the income tax return.

Is There Interest on Refund in case of Delay in Refund Processing?

Post-filing, the Income Tax Authorities assess the taxpayer's tax liability. In case the tax liability assessed exceeds the amount paid, the excess tax paid is refunded to the taxpayer along with interest at 0.5% per month or part of the month (i.e. 6% per annum) until the date of refund.

Income Tax Refund - An Illustration

On 1st April, 2024, Mr. X has estimated that Rs. 10,00,000 would be taxable income for the financial year 2024-25. He is a freelancer. He paid the taxes in the following situations.  

1. TDS was deducted at Rs.10,000 by his customer
2. Advance tax of Rs. 50,000 was paid by him, during the financial year as per the provisions.

At the end of the financial year, his taxable income turned out to be Rs.9,00,000. So, his overall tax liability was reduced. The tax liability was Rs.41,600 as per applicable slab rates. (including cess). 

The excess amount will be refunded along with interest at the rate of 0.5% per month or part of the month.

How to Claim an Income Tax Refund?

To get your income tax refund or TDS refund, all you need to do is file your Income Tax Return and declare your income, deduction and tax paid details to the Income Tax Department. Once the ITR is processed successfully and if there is any excess tax, it will be issued in your prevalidated bank account. Follow the process and file your ITR via Cleartax.

You have to finish E-filing to get your Income Tax Refund. Make sure to e-file this year to get your tax refund faster. Tax refunds are initiated by the tax department once you have E-verified your return.

You can check the refund status by below mentioned steps.

How to Check your ITR Refund Status for AY 2025-26?

If you are concerned about your tax refund status, you can check the status of the income tax refund in three different ways, here are the methods listed below.

1. Through the Income Tax Portal

Step 1: Visit the income tax portal and log in to your account

Step 2: Click on 'e-File', choose 'Income Tax Returns' and then select ‘View Filed Returns’

Step 3: You can see the status of your current and past income tax returns.

Step 4: Click on 'View details,' and you'll see the status of your income tax refund, as shown in the picture below.

2. Through NSDL Portal 

Step 1:  Visit the NSDL Portal

Step 2: Enter your PAN details, select the Assessment Year from the drop-down option for which tax refund is awaited and enter the Captcha Code

Step 3: Click ‘Proceed’ under the ‘Taxpayer Refund (PAN)’ option

You will be directed to a page that displays the ‘Refund Status’.

3. Through TRACES

Step 1: Log in to the income tax portal

Step 2: Click on ‘e-File’, select ‘Income Tax Returns’ and hit ‘View Form 26AS’

Step 3: You will be directed to the TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System (TRACES) page, and Click on ‘View Tax Credit (Form 26AS/Annual tax statement) at the bottom of the page

Step 4: Select the Assessment Year from the drop-down menu, and select view as ‘text’

You are directed to a page that displays the details of the paid refund

Why my Refund is Delayed?

• If the tax payer is eligible for refund, the department usually credits the refund in the bank account within 4-5 weeks. More often than not, the refund is credited well before this time frame.
• If the refund credit is getting delayed, in other words, the refund is awaited beyond this time, the following steps are recommended
  • Check if the bank account details furnished are correct and it is duly pre-validated.
  • Confirm that the bank account provided is in your name and the spelling is correct
  • Check if the bank account is still active. If you have changed the bank account anytime post filing the return, update it on the portal.
• The refund request might be rejected by the department because of
  • Error in filing the returns
  • Mismatch between the returns filed and Form 26AS. 
  • You can login to your income tax portal, login to e-filing portal > e-File > Income Tax Returns > View filed returns. If you have any intimation or notices, you can find it there.
• If the returns are filed close to due date, due to high volume of return filing, the refund might be delayed.

You can raise a grievance at the income tax portal if there is undue delay in refund processing. 

What Does my Refund Status Mean?

Here’s a list of different types of status of refund with meanings:

How to Request for Refund Re-issue?

In the case of refund failure, you can raise the refund re-issue request in the e-filing portal by follwing the steps below:

Step 1: Login to ‘e-Filing’ Portal

Step 2: Click on Services menu and click on ‘Refund reissue’

Step 3: Create Refund Reissue request

Step 4: You will get the details of Assessment Year for which refund got failed

Step 5: Select the Assessment Year and click on continue

Step 6: You will get the bank details in the next page. Validate the bank account if it is not validated

Step 7: Click on the ‘Submit’ button and submit the request 

Is the Income Tax Refund Taxable?

No, the refund amount is not taxable. But, the interest received on the tax refund is taxable. The rate of tax on the interest would be as per your applicable tax slab rate.

What is the Time Duration for a Tax Refund?

The time taken to receive the income tax refund entirely depends on the Income Tax Department’s internal process. Generally, it takes around 7 to 120 days, with an average time of 90 days after you have e-verified your return. The Income Tax Department implemented a new refund processing system to enable faster refund processing with an expected turnaround of a few days instead of a few months.        

What is the Mode of Receiving the Refund?

The Income Tax Department will send the refund amount through electronic mode (direct credit to the account) or through a ‘Refund Cheque’. You must enter the correct bank account number and IFSC code with complete address details, including the PIN code, at the time of filing your return to receive refunds. Refunds sent through cheques are dispatched to the address mentioned in the ITR through speed post.

What is the Interest on Income Tax Refund?

When the refund amount is more than 10% of the total tax payable for that particular year, you will receive a simple interest on the tax refund. Interest is computed at 6% per annum (0.5% per month or part of the month) on the refund amount. Here's how the interest on refund is computed:

How to Claim Refund for Missed ITR Filing on Due Date?

The deadline to file your ITR for non-audit cases was 31st July 2024. However, if you cannot manage to file your taxes before the deadline, you can still file a late return, known as Belated Return. The last date to file a belated return is 31st December 2024. You can claim your tax refund through a belated return.

Income Tax Refund Helpline

You can contact the ‘Aaykar Sampark Kendra’ for any queries regarding income tax refunds. The toll-free helpline of the Aaykar Sampark Kendra Kendra is - 1800-180-1961. You can even send a mail with your refund query to refunds@incometax.gov.in. 

For refund-related queries or modifications in the refund record processed at CPC Bangalore, you can contact - 1800-425-2229 or 080-43456700. For any payment-related query, contact the SBI Contact Centre toll-free number at -1800-425-9760.