I-T Refunds For AY 2024-25 46% More Than Previous Year, Says Finance Ministry

The Union Ministry of Finance has announced that it has made the highest-ever income tax refunds for Assessment Year (AY) 2024-25, a growth of 46.31 per cent as compared to the previous assessment year. 

Total tax refunds worth Rs 3.08 lakh crore were issued till November 27, 2024. In the previous financial year (FY 2023-24), this was Rs 2.03 lakh crore. The reason behind this is technology-based initiatives taken by the government and improvement in services towards taxpayers, it said. 

According to the ministry, the income tax department’s income tax return (ITR) portal is doing a commendable job dealing with the rush in tax filing.  

Over 900 filers per second were handled at its peak. About 6.99 million ITRs were filed on July 31, 2024 itself. And above that, about 16.2 million ITRs were processed within just one day itself in AY 2024-25. By November 22, 2024, 85 million ITRs were filed. This is an increase of 7.32 per cent from previous year, it said. 

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has settled 3.5 million failed refund cases arising out of earlier assessment years. This would lead to restorations of refunds to legitimate taxpayers much earlier and boost the efficiency in the administration of taxation.

The factors for a sophisticated refund process are the TIN 2.0 system, which was rolled out last year. Already over 30 million refunds have been processed with an error rate as low as 0.002 per cent. Bringing in several major advancements through TIN 2.0 still remains on the mind of finance ministry to make the system even more efficient and user-friendly. 

For instance, the government will increase timely tax refunds as a way of giving liquidity to the economy. It will help individuals and businessmen to get back their refunds, hence instilling confidence in the tax system, while ensuring better compliance. Including technology enhances filing and processing returns, hence, making it more accessible and easier for taxpayers. 

The ministry has also promised progress in the coming years by constructing systems that allow efficiency in the way public services work to strengthen its support in the economy.