It said this is a taxpayer-friendly measure where an opportunity is being provided to assessees in line with ‘principles of natural justice’.
To facilitate faster clearance of refunds for the 2022-23 fiscal, the income tax department on 23 September asked taxpayers to respond to intimation from the I-T department regarding outstanding demands of previous years.
The department in a post on ‘X’ said after a few taxpayers took to social media about receiving intimation from the I-T department regarding past unsettled tax demands. It said this is a taxpayer-friendly measure where an opportunity is being provided to assessees in line with “principles of natural justice”.
It wrote, “The Income Tax Department is making every effort to complete the processing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and issuance of refunds expeditiously.”
As per details, around 7.09 crore 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 date, including 2.75 crore refund returns.
“However, there are a few cases in which refunds are due to the taxpayer, but previous demands are outstanding, the department said,” the I-T department said in the social media post shared on Saturday.
“Accordingly, taxpayers with existing demand(s) in the previous years are being intimated of the same,” it added.
According to Section 245(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the department must provide, to taxpayers 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.
“Accordingly, taxpayers with existing demand(s) in the previous years are being intimated of the same … 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,” it said.
Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/respond-to-intimation-of-past-tax-demands-for-faster-refund-processing-asks-it-dept-to-taxpayers-11695464701688.html
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