Income tax refund: The filing of income tax returns for the financial year 2024-25 has begun. Concurrently, ITR-2 and ITR-3 forms have also been made live on the income tax portal, which is leading to a surge in the number of ITR filers. As much as the speed of influx is there with the income tax filers, equally fast the refunds as well are being processed. The IT department has indeed improved efficiency in the disbursement of refunds.Currently most salaried employees and even self-employed professionals are experiencing instant credit of refunds to their accounts. Refunds which earlier used to take 20 days to 1 month or sometimes even stretch to 3 to 4 months are now coming in 24 hours or in a maximum of 5 to 10 days. Do note that a large number of people are still eligible for tax refund, if you have not filed ITR till now then do it quickly. Until what date can the return be filed?This year the last date to submit form is 15th September. Make sure you submit before this date as only then the processing of refund will begin. Even if you miss this timeline, there is still an option for late ITR submissions. Significantly, both ITR-2 and ITR-3 forms have been made available.What are the steps involved in filing the income tax returns? Your first step would be visiting the website incometax.gov.in. If you already have an account, simply enter your PAN to log in. After logging in, click on ‘File Income Tax Return’ in the e-file section of the page. Select the appropriate assessment year and click on continue. Next, choose your category from the dropdown which together with ITR-1,2,3,4 includes Individual, HUF and others. Complete all the required fields to proceed further. Upon completion of the forms, remember to E-Verify your ITR to avoid issues later. Should you choose not to verify your ITR within 30 days, you run the risk of not getting your refund. What documents are needed? In case someone is filling ITR, then he must have PAN and Aadhaar, bank statement, Form 16, donation receipt, stock trading statement and bank account which is PAN linked. You must have these documents available.For whom it is mandatory to file an ITRUnderstanding the requirements for Income Tax Return filing is crucial. In case you spent more than 2 lakh for foreign travel, paid for electricity consumption of over 1 lakh, or deposited more than a crore in one or more current accounts, filing ITR is mandatory. Additionally, possessing equities of a business worth 60 lakhs or having TDS and TCS exceeding 25 thousand also makes one eligible to file ITR.
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