Key Points
- The deadline for filing income tax returns for the Assessment Year 2024-25 ended on July 31.
- Over 7 crore taxpayers filed their returns by the deadline.
- As of August 23, 7,43,52,113 returns were filed, with 7,17,75,297 verified.
- Out of the verified returns, over 5.3 crore (74.44%) have been processed.
- Approximately 1,83,43,686 returns (25.5%) are still pending processing.
- Possible reasons for delays include the type of form filed, size of the refund claim, and discrepancies in data.
- The statutory deadline for processing all returns is December 31, 2025.
Looma News
The deadline for submitting income tax returns for the Assessment Year 2024-25 ended on July 31, and more than 7 crore taxpayers met this deadline. By August 23, a total of 7,43,52,113 returns had been filed, with 7,17,75,297 of these verified. The Income Tax Department has successfully processed over 5.3 crore of these verified returns, which amounts to 74.44%. However, this leaves more than 1.8 crore returns still waiting to be processed, which is about 25.5% of the total.
If your return is among those not yet processed, you might be wondering why it’s taking so long and if there’s cause for concern. The government has significantly reduced the average processing time for returns from 53 days to just 10 days over the past decade. Despite this improvement, several factors can still cause delays.
Reasons for Delays
One reason could be the type of form you submitted. Forms like ITR-1 and ITR-4 generally get processed faster compared to more complex forms such as ITR-2 and ITR-3. Refund size can also affect processing times; larger refunds require additional checks by the tax authorities. Additionally, if there are discrepancies or errors in the information provided in your return, this can lead to further delays as the tax department may need to communicate with you for corrections.
It’s important to note that the Income Tax Department has until December 31, 2025, to complete the processing of all returns for the AY 2024-25. Therefore, while delays are inconvenient, they are not unusual, and the department has ample time to address them.
