The income tax department on Saturday asked taxpayers to respond to intimations regarding outstanding demands of past years to facilitate faster clearance of refunds for the fiscal year 2022-23. This comes as some of the taxpayers have reportedly taken to social media about receiving initiation from the I-T department. In a post of X, the department said the measure is a taxpayer-friendly step being provided to assessees in line with “principles of natural justice”.
“Section 245(1) of Income-tax Act, 1961, mandates providing of an opportunity to the taxpayer to make a representation before adjusting the refund against an existing demand. The taxpayer is required to agree, disagree or clarify the status of the demand,” the I-T department posted on X. Further adding that there are a few cases in which refunds are due to the taxpayer, but previous demands are outstanding. Accordingly, taxpayers with existing demands in the previous years are being intimated of the same.
The Income Tax Department is making every effort to complete the processing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and issuance of refunds expeditiously.
👉For the Assessment Year 2023-24, 7.09 crore returns have been filed. Of these, 6.96 crore ITRs have been verified, of which 6.46…
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) September 23, 2023
“This is a taxpayer friendly measure where an opportunity is being provided in line with principles of natural justice. Taxpayers are requested to avail this opportunity and respond to such intimations to enable cleaning up/reconciliation of pending demands and facilitate timely issue of refunds,” the I-T department said.
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It further informed that as many as 7.09 crore ITR returns have been filed for income earned in the 2022-23 fiscal. Of these, 6.96 crore ITRs have been verified, of which 6.46 crore returns have been processed as of today, including 2.75 crore refund returns. The Income Tax Department further said it is making every effort to complete the processing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and issuance of refunds expeditiously.