Are You Worried About I-T Returns Refund For FY19-20? Know The Reason For Delay

Although the department cited technical reasons for the delay, it didn’t mention the timeline by when it is expected to migrate to CPC 2.0 and start processing the I-T returns for AY20-21.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

Those who have filed your income tax return (ITR) for the Assessment Year (AY) 2020-21 and not yet received the refund, then there is a possibility of a delay because of a technical upgrade.  It is being said that technical upgrade to enhance the processing of the ITRs could be the reason. What has happened? There are several taxpayers who have filed their tax returns in June or July but took to the micro-blogging site Twitter to express their concerns over the refund. All income tax returns filed with the department are processed at the CPC or centralised processing center of the I-T department at Bengaluru as of now. While hinting at the technical issues, the I-T Department has replied through a tweet saying, “As part of our commitment to provide improved taxpayer services, we are moving to a new, technologically upgraded platform (CPC 2.0) for faster processing of ITRs. ITRs for AY 2020-21 will be processed on CPC 2.0. We thank you for your patience while we migrate to the new system."

Although the department didn’t mention the timeline by when it is expected to migrate to CPC 2.0 and start processing the I-T returns for AY20-21. What is the CPC 2.0 project? With the CPC 2.0 project, the tax department is expanding its capacity and upgrading technology to provide better services to the taxpayers through prefilled forms and reducing time for refunds. Besides responding to the concerns of taxpayers, the I-T department had previously stated it has so far issued refunds of ₹1,36,066 crore to more than 40.19 lakh taxpayers between 1 April 2020 and 17 November 2020. This includes personal income tax refunds of Rs. 35,750 crore issued in 38,23,304 cases and corporate tax refunds of ₹1,00,316 crore issued in 1,95,518 cases.

However, several taxpayers responded to the tweet and expressing worries about not receiving the refunds. As per experts in the taxation field, the delay could be a result of covid-induced disruptions, which has put a strain on the exchequer. While some believe that the tax department should offer more transparency by giving the timeline for which the refunds have been issued.