COVID-19: Tax department clears refunds worth Rs 10,779 crore

“The CBIC is fully committed to helping the GST taxpayers in the present COVID-19 situation and it has processed 7,783 claims worth Rs 3,854 crore in the last week itself,” said the board in a press release.

New Delhi: The revenue department has processed tax refunds worth Rs 10,779 crores since March 30 to help the business community, particularly in the SME sector and other small businesses. While the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has processed 12,923 claims worth Rs 5,575 crores since March 30, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has processed refunds worth Rs 5,204 crore since April 8, said sources in the revenue department.

“The CBIC is fully committed to helping the GST taxpayers in the present COVID-19 situation and it has processed 7,783 claims worth Rs 3,854 crore in the last week itself,” said the board in a press release.

CBIC also said that the provision for asking the Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSL) and Service Accounting Code (SAC) Code was implemented to expedite the refund process.

CBIC said it decided to make the declaration of classification codes a part of the application itself to address the difficulty faced by trade in providing this data at the time of processing of claims as it was leading to delays and an increase in compliance cost.

CBDT refunds Rs 5,204 crores

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said it has issued the income tax refund of Rs. 5,204 crores to nearly 8.2 lakh small businesses since April 8. These refunds have been issued to small entities such as proprietorship firms, partnership firms, corporates, and trusts.

“These income tax refunds would help MSMEs to carry on their business activities without pay cuts and layoffs in COVID-19 pandemic situations,” said the board in a statement sent to ETV Bharat.

CBDT said the Income Tax department has also processed nearly 14 lakh refunds of up to Rs 5 lakh since April 8 to help taxpayers in the COVID-19 pandemic situation.

The board said that it was committed to providing help to small businesses and it will further issue the refunds of Rs 7,760 crores very soon.

The apex body to administer the direct taxes in the country said that the taxpayers’ response was awaited in around 1.74 lakh cases and the income tax department has sent them reminders.

The board said the response should be provided within seven days and it can be done through its online portal.

(Article by Krishnanand Tripathi)