Issues in 'Re-issue' of refund of Income Tax by CPC

CA. M. Lakshmanan

At present issue of cheque by State Bank of India for refund of Income Tax has been dispensed with and the refund due is transferred to the account of the assessee by ECS. But in certain cases the refund does not reach the account of the assessee due to various reasons viz. difference in the name such as in the Bank records name would be ‘Lakshmanan M.’ but in the Income tax records it will be ‘Muthiah Lakshmanan’, the type of account differs, mismatch in account nos. etc., Certain Banks deny credit even if PAN Matches.

In such cases if a request for re-issue of refund is made in the CPC site, it is said that the assessee has to wait for three months from the date of transfer order issued.  The logic for making Assessee wait for three months was that a cheque issued by CPC remains valid for three months and it was not possible for CPC to cancel the cheque already issued, so it waits for three month from the date of original issue of cheque and than after satisfying itself that the cheque was not realised  it was use to re-issue the cheque for refund.

But now since the order for transfer through ECS can be cancelled instantly after verifying the same, steps may be taken to re-issue the refunds without further loss of time to the assessee.

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