Income Tax Refund Not Received: Check Status and Fix the Cause

If your income tax refund has not arrived, first check its status on the e-filing portal under View Filed Returns. A refund is processed only after the return is e-verified and usually takes four to five weeks to reach your bank. The common blockers are an unvalidated bank account, a name mismatch, an old tax demand or an unanswered notice.

How long should a refund take?

The e-filing portal says it usually takes four to five weeks for a refund to be credited, and that refund processing starts only once you e-verify the return. So the clock does not start on the day you file. It starts when the return is verified.

Have you waited longer than that? Then something specific is holding it. The steps below tell you what.

How to check refund status

1. Log in to the e-filing portal with your PAN and password. Your PAN must be linked with Aadhaar.
2. Go to e-File, then Income Tax Returns, then View Filed Returns.
3. Pick the assessment year. For income of FY 2025-26, that is assessment year 2026-27.
4. Click View Details. You will see the life cycle of the return: filed, verified, processed, and the refund result.
5. Read the result and match it with the table below.

What each status means and what to do

Why a refund fails

The portal lists the reasons, and all of them are about identity or the bank account:

• PAN is inoperative because it is not linked with Aadhaar.
• The bank account is not pre-validated on the portal. Pre-validation is compulsory.
• The name on the bank account does not match the name on the PAN.
• The IFSC is invalid, often after a bank merger.
• The account named in the return has been closed.

How to raise a refund reissue request

1. Validate the right bank account on the portal first. Only validated accounts show up for selection.
2. From the dashboard, go to Services, then Refund Reissue.
3. Click Create Refund Reissue Request and select the return whose refund failed.
4. Choose the bank account for the credit and proceed to verification.
5. E-verify with Aadhaar OTP, EVC or a digital signature. Note the transaction ID.
6. Track it later under View Refund Reissue Request.

When the refund was adjusted against an old demand

Under section 245 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the department may set off your refund against tax you still owe for another year. The law requires a written intimation to you before it does so. That intimation normally comes by email and on the portal, so many people miss it.

What if the old demand is wrong, say because a TDS credit was not given? Respond to the demand on the portal and get the old year corrected. The refund follows once the demand is removed or reduced.

The department can also hold back a refund where an assessment or reassessment for that year is pending, for up to sixty days from the date of the assessment. This applies from 1 October 2024.

Do you get interest on a late refund?

Yes, under section 244A of the 1961 Act, at one-half per cent for every month or part of a month. The start date depends on you:

• If the refund comes from TDS, TCS or advance tax and you filed by the due date, interest runs from 1 April of the assessment year to the date the refund is granted.
• If you filed late, it runs only from the date you filed.
• No interest is paid if the refund is less than 10% of the tax determined.
• Any delay caused by you is left out of the interest period.

A worked example. Kavita's tax for FY 2025-26 is worked out at Rs 1,20,000. Her employer and bank deducted TDS of Rs 1,60,000, so her refund is Rs 40,000. That is more than 10% of Rs 1,20,000, so interest applies. She filed on time, and the refund is granted in November 2026. April to November is eight months. Interest is Rs 40,000 x 0.5% x 8, which is Rs 1,600. She should receive Rs 41,600.

Had she filed a belated return in October, interest would run for only two months: Rs 400.

The mistake people usually make

They wait. A refund that has not come in two months rarely fixes itself. In most cases the return is unverified, the bank account is not validated, or a notice is sitting unread in the registered email.

The second mistake is at filing time: claiming TDS that does not appear in Form 26AS. Match your figures with Form 26AS and AIS before you file, so the refund you claim is one the department can see.

The third is not filing at all. A refund can be claimed only by filing a return within the time allowed. If no return is filed, the excess tax simply stays with the government.

Which year, which law?

Refunds for FY 2025-26 and earlier years follow the Income-tax Act, 1961: section 244A for interest and section 245 for set-off. For tax year 2026-27 onward, the Income-tax Act, 2025 applies. Interest on refunds is in section 437 and set-off and withholding are in section 438, with the same 0.5% rate and the same 10% test.

When to call for help

You can do the status check and the reissue request yourself. If the portal shows nothing useful, the e-filing helpdesk is on 1800 103 0025 and 1800 419 0025, from 08:00 to 20:00, Monday to Friday. Take professional help when the refund was adjusted against a demand you do not agree with, or a notice asks you to explain a mismatch.

Frequently asked questions

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