Refund of Excess Tax

If the Assessing Officer is satisfied that the amount of tax paid by you for any assessment year exceeds the amount with which you should actually be charged, then you are entitled to a refund of the excess.¹ Any excess tax you pay can be claimed as a refund.

How to get your refund

If you want to claim any refund from the Income Tax Department, you can do so only if you file your ITR. There is no separate procedure as such in order to claim an income tax refund due to you. You can claim tax refund by simply filing the return of income² and verification in the usual manner. The Income Tax Department will then confirm your ITR verification, including details of the refund amount. Your refund claim will either be accepted or rejected.

The excess tax will generally be refunded by crediting it in your bank account through ECS transfer. Sometimes, you may owe some payment to the Income Tax Department. In this case, the income tax authorities may set off the refund amount against the sum payable by you. This is done after giving you a written intimation of the action proposed to be taken.³

Delay in payment of refund

The Income Tax Department has been making efforts to settle refund claims at the earliest.​​ After applying for a refund, you can check your refund status. If the Assessing Officer does not grant the refund within three months after the month in which the refund is claimed, then the government shall pay you simple interest at 15% per annum on the refund amount.⁴

1. Section 237, Income Tax Act, 1961[↩]
2. Section 239, Income Tax Act, 1961[↩]
3. Section 245, Income Tax Act, 1961[↩]
4. Section 243, Income Tax Act, 1961[↩]