Long wait for tax refunds is now a thing of the past, as the income tax department is equipped with latest technology that can process and transfer refunds in just 7-10 days to tax payers.
With a new technology upgrade that enables Aadhaar-based verification of an income tax return (ITR), the tax department has been able to credit the refund amount to the bank accounts of eligible candidates within 15 days.
"The days are gone when getting an I-T refund used to take months or in some cases even a few years. The new electronic verification e-filing system has proved to be very customer-friendly and as a token of thanks to the taxpayers, the department is working to ensure their refunds are sent in a week's time or a maximum of ten days," a senior official concern with these operations, told PTI.
"This is surely the way forward in the administration of tax affairs in the country," he said.
A total of 2.06 crore taxpayers have filed their ITRs online this year after the income tax department extended the deadline to 7 September, 2015. The department saw a 26.12% rise in returns filing for Assessment Year 2015-16 as against 1.63 crore people filing returns last year.
As of 7 September, the department's Central Processing Centre (CPC) located in Bengaluru successfully processed 45.18 lakh returns and paid refunds to 22.14 lakh tax payers, according to the latest statistics.
By that date, the department was able to electronically verify 32.95 lakh returns filed online. The new e-filing system put in place by the department can verify ITRs by using a person's Aadhaar number, online bank account, ATM or email id.
"With these new technological advancements, the I-T Department wishes to completely eradicate human interface in these taxpayers services which directly leads to faster and hassle-free processing of ITRs and refunds apart from other services," the official said.
