The government has ordered that income tax refunds of up to Rs 5,000 should be made immediately in its latest attempt to clear the backlog that the NDA had inherited.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes ordered that small value refunds should be made without adjusting for outstanding arrears. Last month, it had asked the Central Processing Centre in Bengaluru and field offices to speed up refunds of less than Rs 50,000. The move has led to a positive response with nearly 18.3 lakh refunds adding up to close to Rs 1,800 crore getting processed between December 1 and January 10. The refunds were for three financial years, starting 2012-13.
F. No. 312/109/2015-OT
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Central Board of Direct Taxes
Room No, 281, Hotel Samrat,
Kautilya Marg, Chanakyapuri
New Delhi 110021.
Telefax:-011-241025731
Mail: sahil.mishra@nic.in
New Delhi, Dated 14th January, 2016
Office Memorandum
Sub: Issue of refunds up to Re.5,000/- and refunds in cases where outstanding arrear is up to Re.5,000/- in Non-CASS cases for AYs 2013-14 and 2014-15.
I am directed to convey the decision that in order to provide relief to the small taxpayers, refunds up to Rs.5,000/- and refunds in cases where arrear demand is up to Rs.5,000/- may be issued without any adjustment of outstanding arrears under section 245 of the Act during FY 2015-16.
2. As on 09.01.2016, there are 64,938 cases of refunds below Rs.5,000/- involving Rs.1,148.14 Crore in non-CASS cases for AYs 2013-14 and 2014-15 pending in AST. It is requested that the Assessing Officers be directed to issue these refunds without any adjustment of arrears under Section 245. Similarly, the non-CASS cases for those assessment years where the refund amount is more than Rs.5,000/- but the outstanding arrear is Rs. 6,000/- or less may also be processed for issue of refund without any adjustment under Section 245.
3. The above exercise may be completed before 31st January, 2016 and a compliance report be sent to the Member (Revenue).
4. This issues with the approval of Chairman, CBDT.
Yours faithfully
(Salil Mishra)
Director (OT & WT)