Status Of IT Refund On The Net

BANGALORE: Come March-April and it is time for the income tax payers to expect the cheque towards the refund of the excess tax collected. But during these two months they would have visited their local income tax offices at least half a dozen times to know the status of their refund.

But thanks to the new initiative of the Income Tax Department, the assessees need not run from pillar to post anymore, as they will be able to track their refund on the Net and expect the cheque to be credited to their bank accounts on a particular date. This system will work only for those tax payers who have opted for the "refund banker pilot scheme."

Sources in the Income Tax Department told The Hindu that "its true use and utility for the taxpayers will be known only at the end of April when the process of refund for 2008-09 would have been completed." The details have been loaded on the website www.tin-nsdl.com. The website has a tab prompt that will ask simple questions like the assessment year and the Permanent Account Number (PAN).

Taxpayers will get the status of refund 10 days after the details have been sent by their respective assessing officers to the refund banker. The status will be available only for those taxpayers whose refunds are through the refund banker pilot scheme, according to the sources.