How to Claim Your Pending Income Tax Refund Online

Sometimes, we may have to get an income tax refund from the Government due to various reasons. This article provides a step-by-step guide on how to claim the income tax refund you deserve.

A lot of us have a tax claim at the end of a financial year when we realise that we have paid the Government more tax than we are liable to. The three most common cases in which you will be claiming a refund are:

1. Your advance tax paid is higher than your actual calculated tax liability
2. The Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) by your employer, bank deposits, etc. was more than what you are liable to pay at the end of a financial year;
3. You failed to submit any proof that could have led to tax deductions, such as donation receipts.

It is your hard-earned money that you need back from the Government and that is why you need to claim Income Tax (IT) refund every year. In order to claim your pending income tax refund, you need to file your Income Tax Return (ITR); there is no separate form or process to get your refund. However, even if you know how to claim tax, you need to file your ITR by July 31 of that assessment year to get your refund. Out of the two ways to claim tax back, the easier way is online as it is simple, efficient and fast.

Follow the steps below to know how to claim tax back online easily:

1. Log in to the official Government website, which allows you to e-file your income tax returns. Make sure you have all the details- your User ID, Password handy or else your session may expire while you go on the search for those details.
2. Select the ‘e-file’ section on your dashboard and choose ‘Prepare & Submit ITR online’.
3. Select from ITR 1/ITR 4S forms. Choose the appropriate ‘Assessment Year’.
4. Enter all the details required and double-check all the information so that there is no discrepancy later when the verification from the IT department takes place.
5. Click the ‘Validate’ option on the ‘Taxes paid & Verification’ tab to find the calculated income tax refund amount due to you. Assuming you have entered all the details correctly, you will find the refund amount displayed to be similar to the one you had anticipated.
6. Submit the final form along with the Digital Signature Certificate (DSC), and you are done! Alternatively, if you do not have a DSC, you will need to print the ITR-V and send it to the IT department’s registered address within 120 days to complete the e-filing process.

Now that you know how to claim tax online, there is one more associated piece of information you should know - how does the IT department send you the income tax refund?

The answer to that is, it will either directly transfer the amount to your bank account, provided you have submitted the correct information in the ITR form or it will send a demand draft to the address mentioned in your ITR form.

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