Filing your income tax returns or ITR is no small feat. One needs to keep all proofs and appropriate documents in place. Hence, any hiccup in the process can actually be quite tiresome.
Once an individual files and verifies the income tax returns, the Income Tax Department will initiate the processing of the income tax returns. As a part of the process, they will send the taxpayer an intimation notice about the same, as per Section 143(1) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961. However, there can be instances of ITR not processed due to some irregularities or errors in the income tax returns. Now, you must be thinking “How will I come to know if my tax returns are stuck in the status, ITR not processed? What can I do about it?”
The intimation notice is sent exactly for this purpose. Every taxpayer must receive an intimation notice from the Income Tax Department. The intimation notice is an assurance that all the income and earning details and relevant calculations specified by the taxpayer in their income tax return are prima facie the same as the official records and calculations of the Income Tax Department. This notice is an indication that you should expect your income tax returns to be processed, keeping in mind that the Income Tax Department needs around a month to complete the same.
After the taxpayer verifies their income tax returns, the Income Tax Department then begins processing the income tax returns of Indian taxpayers at their CPC (Central Processing Centre) in Bengaluru. This process usually takes about a month to complete. The process involves matching the claimed tax deduction with the values reflected in the Form 26AS, interest and tax calculation, checking arithmetic errors and omissions if any, so on and so forth. As per the law, the Income Tax Department must process all ITR applications within a year following the financial year for which returns were filed. This one-year period which immediately follows the financial year is also called the assessment year. Therefore, all income tax returns filed for the FY 2019-20 should be processed by 31st March 2021.
What if income tax returns are e-verified but not processed?
After the taxpayer has filed their income tax returns and verified it successfully, the status of the income tax returns form should reflect as “Return submitted and Verified”. However, after waiting for a considerable period, if the taxpayer does not receive any intimation notice and their ITR remains not processed by the Income Tax Department, then the taxpayer could raise the grievance for ITR not processed. To raise grievances for ITR not processed 2019-20, follow these tips as mentioned below:
Step 1: Go to the income tax e-filing portal. Sign in to your account.
Step 2: At the income tax e-filing portal, go to the “e-Nivaran” tab and click on “Submit Grievance” option.
Step 3: Once you hit “Submit Grievance”, your personal details will get auto-populated on the screen.
Step 4: Choose the options as given below and then fill the details of the grievance:
- The resolution sought from — CPC-ITR (Centralised Processing Centre for income tax returns).
- Grievance category — Processing.
- Grievance Sub-category — Others — Processing.
- Assessment year — Select 2019-20 for income tax returns filed for the FY 2018-19. You should choose the assessment year as 2018-19 if ITR is not processed for the FY 2017-18.
Inside the box for Grievance Description, you should mention your grievance details. You can also upload documents to support your claim. The total size of all the attachments should not be greater than 5 MB and they should be uploaded only in the PDF format.
Step 5: After filling all the details, click on the “Preview and Submit” button. A new page will appear on your screen. Verify all the information that you have entered in support of the grievance and then, make the final submission by clicking on “Submit”.
Step 6: After you click on the “Submit” button, the grievance will be sent to the Income Tax Department. You will see a Grievance Id appear on the page. Make a note of this ID for future references. The intimation notice will be emailed on the registered email address. You will also find a link on the screen which will give you the option of downloading the grievance.
How to check ITR status?
Typically, you should receive a reply from the Income Tax Department between 7 and 10 days of filing the grievance. The individual can also track the status of their grievance on the income tax e-filing portal with the following steps:
Step 1: Go to the e-filing portal and sign in into your account.
Step 2: Go to “e-Nivaran” tab, then select “Grievance Status”. After you click on “Grievance status”, the status of the pending grievance should appear on your screen.
With these simple steps, a taxpayer can submit their grievance if their income tax returns don’t get processed by the income tax authorities after being verified. Usually, if there are issues, errors, omissions or irregularities in the income tax returns, then the income tax returns form doesn’t get processed. However, the taxpayer has the chance to rectify the problem by filing the revised income tax returns or by raising a grievance for ITR not processed.
FAQs on What If ITR Is Not Processed By The Income Tax Department
1. Why is my ITR clearance taking so long?
ITR date for Appraisal of the Years 2021 and 2022 is January 31. It had been prolonged owing to consumers’ difficulty in filing ITRs due to some technical concerns with the latest tax e-filing facility.
2. How long would it take ITR to complete a reimbursement?
Following the completion of the ITR procedure, the status will be updated. The crediting of reimbursement procedure typically takes over a month of the period of online verification of ITR.
3. How long will the tax refund be delayed?
Tax refunds may be delayed, according to experts. Even though the IRS claims that most reimbursements will be issued within three weeks, experts caution that setbacks are probable, citing the agency’s ongoing work on 2020 tax records.
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