In a bid to spruce up its tax-payer-friendly image, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has asked its officers to ensure that refunds less than Rs. 5,000 are issued by the month-end.
“It has been decided that refunds up to Rs. 5,000, as also refunds in cases where arrear demand is up to Rs. 5,000 in non-computer aided scrutiny selection (CASS) cases, may be issued expeditiously without any adjustment of outstanding demand,” it said in a recent directive to field formations, asking them to complete the exercise by July 29.
Sources said the CBDT wants to ensure that all refund backlogs from previous years for small amounts should be fully cleared this fiscal. “With more returns being filed online and processed electronically, the department wants to ensure that refunds are also given out on time,” said an official.
The CBDT directive also noted there is a large pendency of refunds of small amounts relating to non-CASS cases that are pending for the assessment years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16.
The CBDT has also called for “expeditious” clearing of refunds where notices were issued for adjustment but there was no response from the tax payer. “Such cases be treated as though the taxpayer had “no-objection”…,” it said. The reminder to field offices comes at a time when the CBDT is trying to clear a backlog in processing of refunds as well as income tax returns. In 2015-16, the CBDT had issued 1.61 crore refunds worth Rs. 1.71 lakh crore.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley too has stressed on the need for faster refunds to ensure that taxpayers are not put to inconvenience.
