Where Is My Income Tax Refund? ₹2.20 Lakh Crore Has Gone Out — Why Yours May Be Held, and the Four Dates Left for FY 2025-26
Refunds are going out faster than last year — ₹2.20 lakh crore by 17 September, up 29% — yet 'where is my refund' is the personal-tax question India keeps searching. A record 7.8 crore returns were filed for FY 2025-26 by 31 August. What actually holds a refund, how to read the portal's status, what the 'processing held' SMS means, and the dates still open: belated returns by 31 December and, for the first time, revisions until 31 March 2027. With a short note on the deadlines taxpayers abroad face in October.
Every September the same query climbs the search charts in India: "income tax refund status". This year it has company — "refund delay", "processing held", "refund not received after e-verification". The odd thing is that, in aggregate, refunds are moving faster than ever. The Central Board of Direct Taxes says ₹2.20 lakh crore had been refunded by 17 September, 29% more than at the same point last year. So if yours has not arrived, the reason is usually specific to your return, and usually something you can find and fix. This piece sets out what the numbers show, the five causes that hold most refunds, what to do about each, and the dates that remain for the year.
Position as at 26 September 2026. Figures are the CBDT's data to 17 September 2026 as reported on 18 September, and the Income Tax Department's return counts. Returns for FY 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27) are governed by the Income-tax Act, 1961, as amended by the Finance Act, 2026 — the new Income-tax Act, 2025 applies from tax year 2026-27 onwards. Your own case turns on your own facts; check the portal before you act on anything here.
₹2.20 lakh crore refunded to 17 September (+29.19%) · ₹14.32 lakh crore gross direct tax (+15%) · ₹12.12 lakh crore net (+13%) · ₹6.16 lakh crore net non-corporate tax, which is mostly personal income tax (+6%) · 7.8 crore+ returns filed by 31 August, against 7.3 crore by 16 September last year.
What the data says: refunds are faster, filings are at a record
The CBDT's mid-September figures, released on 18 September, tell a clear story. Gross direct tax collections to 17 September were ₹14.32 lakh crore, up 15%. Refunds issued were ₹2.20 lakh crore, up 29.19% from about ₹1.70 lakh crore in the same period of 2025. After refunds, net collections were ₹12.12 lakh crore, up 13%. Within that, net non-corporate tax — the head that holds individuals, HUFs and firms, and so most personal income tax — was ₹6.16 lakh crore, up 6%, and non-corporate advance tax was ₹1.06 lakh crore, up 9.24% (PTI, citing CBDT data).
Filing was also heavier and earlier than last year. More than 5.9 crore returns — mostly ITR-1 and ITR-2 from salaried people — were filed by the 31 July due date, which was not extended (Free Press Journal, 1 August). By 31 August, the new due date for business and professional taxpayers not under audit, the count had passed 7.8 crore, a record, against 7.3 crore by the extended 16 September deadline last year (Income Tax Department figures, reported 1 September).
Up 29.19% on last year's ₹1.70 lakh crore
By 31 August — a record for any year
Non-corporate head, up 6%
More returns filed, earlier, and more money refunded: the system is not stuck. When one refund stalls in that flow, it is almost always because something on that particular return has stopped it.
First, read the status correctly
Log in to the e-filing portal, open e-File → Income Tax Returns → View Filed Returns, and look at the timeline for AY 2026-27. The stage it stops at tells you where the delay sits.
| What the portal shows | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Submitted, not verified | The return does not count as filed until it is e-verified | E-verify now (Aadhaar OTP, net banking or bank EVC); the limit is 30 days from filing |
| Verified, processing | In the queue at the Centralised Processing Centre | Usually 4–5 weeks from e-verification; nothing to do yet |
| Processed, refund determined | The amount is fixed and sent to the refund banker | Check the refund status and the bank account it is going to |
| Refund failed | The bank rejected the credit | Pre-validate the account on the portal, then raise a refund re-issue request |
| Processing held / "risk management" SMS | The return was picked for a closer look before the refund | Read the message; correct the return if a claim is wrong |
| Processed with a demand, or adjusted | The refund was reduced or set against an earlier demand | Read the intimation; agree or disagree on the portal |
The five things that hold most refunds
1. The return was never e-verified
It sounds too simple to be the answer, but a return that is submitted and not verified is, in law, not filed. Nothing gets processed. Verify within 30 days of filing; if that window has passed, the return has to be verified with a request for condonation of delay, and the filing date becomes the verification date — which can make an on-time return a late one.
2. The bank account is not pre-validated
Refunds go only to a bank account that is pre-validated on the portal and linked to the PAN. A closed account, a changed IFSC after a bank merger, or a name that does not match the PAN record makes the credit fail. Pre-validate under My Profile → My Bank Account, then ask for the refund to be re-issued under Services → Refund Reissue.
3. A mismatch with AIS or Form 26AS
The processing system checks your return against the Annual Information Statement and Form 26AS. Interest on a savings or fixed deposit that you left out, dividends, a TDS credit claimed that the deductor never filed, a sale of shares reported by the broker — any gap between what you declared and what third parties reported can stop the refund or turn it into a demand. Open the AIS before you assume the department is wrong: most mismatches are an omission on the return.
4. A deduction your employer never saw
This is the one catching salaried people this year. If HRA, 80C, 80D or home-loan interest was claimed in the return but not declared to the employer — so Form 16 shows no such claim and TDS was deducted in full — the difference produces the refund, and that difference is exactly what the risk systems look at. Genuine claims backed by rent receipts, premium receipts and loan certificates get through. Claims that cannot be proved are what the department's NUDGE messages target: last December, for AY 2025-26, it sent SMS and email advisories asking taxpayers to withdraw ineligible deductions and exemptions before the revision deadline, and said plainly that these were advisories, not notices (All India Radio, 23 December 2025).
5. An old demand is being set off
If an earlier year shows an outstanding demand, the department can adjust this year's refund against it, after giving you notice (section 245 of the 1961 Act). Check Pending Actions → Response to Outstanding Demand. If the demand is wrong — often it is a credit that was never matched — say so there, with reasons, and the adjustment can be reversed.
Yes. A refund due on a return filed by the due date carries interest at 0.5% a month (6% a year) from 1 April 2026 to the date the refund is granted, under section 244A of the 1961 Act. For a belated return, interest runs from the date of filing. The interest is taxable as income from other sources in the year you receive it.
The four dates that are left
Two of the FY 2025-26 deadlines have passed; two are still open, and the second is new this year. The Income Tax Department's own guidance states the limits for a belated return (nine months from the end of the year) and a revised one (twelve months) (Income Tax Returns help page).
| Date | What it is | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| 30 September 2026 | Tax audit report due; no extension notified as at 26 September | Business and professional taxpayers under audit |
| 31 October 2026 | Return due for audit cases (30 November with transfer pricing) | Audited businesses, partners of audited firms |
| 31 December 2026 | Last date for a belated return (late fee ₹5,000, or ₹1,000 if income is ₹5 lakh or less, under section 234F); last date to revise without a fee | Anyone who missed 31 July / 31 August, or needs to correct a return |
| 31 March 2027 | New last date to revise an FY 2025-26 return, after the Finance Act, 2026 extended the window to twelve months; a revision after 31 December attracts a fee, reported as ₹1,000 or ₹5,000 by income | Anyone who finds an error late |
Beyond those dates, the updated return (ITR-U) remains available for adding income that was left out, with additional tax on top, for up to 48 months from the end of the assessment year. It cannot be used to claim a bigger refund or a lower tax — it is a door for paying more, not less.
A note for taxpayers abroad: October deadlines elsewhere
Personal-tax searches peak in other countries this month too, and many readers of this site have income there.
- United States. Anyone who took the automatic extension on their 2025 federal return must file by 15 October 2026. The extension moved the filing date, not the payment date: tax was due on 15 April, and a return filed after 15 October attracts the failure-to-file penalty of 5% of unpaid tax a month on top of interest. The 2025 return is also the first to carry the new deductions for qualified tips (up to $25,000) and qualified overtime (up to $12,500, or $25,000 on a joint return), both phasing out above $150,000 of modified adjusted gross income ($300,000 joint), claimed on the new Schedule 1-A (IRS).
- United Kingdom. The personal allowance of £12,570 and the higher-rate threshold of £50,270 are frozen until April 2031, after the freeze was extended at the 2025 Budget. As pay rises, more of it is taxed at higher rates — "fiscal drag" — which is why threshold questions dominate UK searches ahead of this autumn's Budget (House of Commons Library).
- If you are an NRI or a returning resident, the Indian refund rules above apply to your Indian return in the same way. Foreign tax credit on income taxed in both countries needs Form 67 filed on the Indian portal by the end of the assessment year, 31 March 2027 (rule 128). Filed after the return has already been processed, the credit is often missed at processing and the refund comes out smaller than claimed, so file it with the return.
What to do this week
- Open the portal's return timeline for AY 2026-27 and note the exact stage.
- Check that the return is e-verified and the refund bank account is pre-validated.
- Download the AIS and compare it line by line with your return — interest, dividends, TDS, securities sales.
- If you claimed a deduction the employer did not see, keep the proof ready; if you cannot prove it, revise the return before 31 December while revision is free.
- If a demand has been set against the refund, respond on the portal rather than letting it stand.
- Raise a grievance on the portal only after four to six weeks from e-verification with no movement — before that, it is just the queue.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an income tax refund take in 2026? The Income Tax Department generally processes a correct, e-verified return within four to five weeks of verification, and the refund is credited a few days after the intimation is issued. Returns picked for a closer check, or with a mismatch against AIS, take longer.
Why does my ITR say processing is held under risk management? The return has been selected for a closer check before the refund is released — usually because a deduction or exemption was claimed in the return but not declared to the employer, or does not match third-party data. It is not a notice. If the claim is genuine, keep the proof; if it is not, revise the return.
How do I check my income tax refund status? Log in to the e-filing portal, go to View Filed Returns and open the AY 2026-27 timeline. The refund status, including any failure reason from the bank, is also shown on the portal once the return is processed.
What is the last date to file a belated ITR for FY 2025-26? 31 December 2026. A late fee applies under section 234F: ₹5,000, or ₹1,000 if total income does not exceed ₹5 lakh.
What is the last date to revise my ITR for AY 2026-27? 31 March 2027, under the twelve-month window introduced by the Finance Act, 2026. Revision is free until 31 December 2026; after that a fee applies.
Do I get interest on a delayed income tax refund? Yes — 0.5% a month under section 244A of the 1961 Act, from 1 April 2026 if the return was filed on time, or from the date of filing if it was late. The interest is taxable in the year received.
My refund failed — what now? Pre-validate a bank account linked to your PAN on the portal, then file a refund re-issue request under Services. The most common causes are a closed account, an IFSC changed by a bank merger, or a name mismatch with the PAN.
What is the 15 October tax deadline in the US? It is the last date to file a 2025 US federal return for anyone who took the automatic six-month extension. It does not extend the time to pay — tax was due on 15 April — and there is no further extension.