In an effort to give more cash in the hands of people amid the coronavirus crisis, the central board of direct taxes has issued net tax refunds of Rs 26,242 crore since April 1 and May 21, 2020. The CBDT has issued income tax refunds amounting to Rs 14,632 crore to 15,81,906 assessees and corporate tax refunds amounting to Rs 11,610 crore to 1,02,392 assessees during this period, said a statement by the Ministry of Finance. It also stated that the refund process has been further expedited and refunds are being issued at a greater pace since the FM Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement made in the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan last week.
CBDT has released a sum of Rs 2050.61 crore in the week ended on May 16 to 37,531 income tax assessees and a sum of Rs 867.62 crore to 2,878 corporate tax assessees. In the current week as well, a refund of Rs 2,673 crore to 1,22,764 income tax assessees were given, and Rs 33,774 corporate tax assessees including trusts, MSMEs, proprietorships, partnerships, etc. were issued refunds worth Rs 6714.34 crore, taking the total amount refund to Rs 9387.
Being asked on how the government can consider the income tax refunds as part of economic relief package when it is the people’s money, FM Sitharaman had said that she accepts that it is people’s hard-earned money but the government is disbursing the refunds at a comparatively much faster rate to provide more cash in the hands of people.
Meanwhile, the government has also extended the due date of filing income tax returns to November 30, 2020. The centre has also announced a 25 per cent tax rebate for non-salaried specified payments and a similar rebate in tax collection at source for specified receipts in a measure that will help release Rs 50,000 crore liquidity
