A total of 70.9 million income tax returns (ITR) have been filed for income earned in FY23 (assessment year FY24). Out of these, 69.6 million ITRs have been verified. As of September 23, 64.6 million returns have been processed, which includes 27.5 million refund returns, according to the Income Tax department’s announcement on X.
However, there are instances where refunds are owed to taxpayers, but there are outstanding demands from previous years. The department stated on Saturday that taxpayers with existing demands from previous years are being informed about this situation.
In accordance with section 245(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, taxpayers are provided an opportunity to respond before adjusting the refund against an existing demand. Taxpayers can choose to agree, disagree, or clarify the status of the demand.
The IT department has urged taxpayers to take advantage of this opportunity and promptly respond to such notifications. This will aid in resolving outstanding demands and ensuring the timely issuance of refunds.
