After filing your Income Tax Return (ITR), if you have paid more tax than required, the government returns the extra amount to you — this is called an ITR refund. This is your own money that you deserve to get back! Once your ITR is successfully e-verified, the refund is credited to your bank account within 15–45 days. These days, in most cases, it gets credited within 20–30 days.

Log in to the Income Tax website (incometax.gov.in) and go to ‘Services → Refund Status’, or use the direct link. Just enter your PAN and the assessment year — with one click you can check whether it is under processing or the refund has been issued

ITR Refund Status Check

Have you filed your Income Tax Return (ITR) for AY 2025-26 and now waiting for that sweet refund to hit your bank account? You’re not alone! Every year, lakhs of salaried people, freelancers, and small business owners file their returns early just to get their hard-earned money back from the Income Tax Department as quickly as possible. But the big question on everyone’s mind is – “When will my refund come?”

Good news: You don’t have to keep guessing or calling your CA every day. The Income Tax Department has made everything super transparent. You can check your ITR status and refund status in just 2 minutes from your phone or laptop. Let’s walk through everything you need to know in the simplest way possible.

1. The New Refund Timeline You Didn’t Know Existed

Everyone knows the department “starts” processing returns from 1st April. But here’s what changed from 1st July 2025:

Refunds up to ₹50,000: Must be issued within 30 days of processing (earlier it was 45–60 days in practice).
Refunds between ₹50,001 and ₹5 lakh: Must be issued within 45 days.
Refunds above ₹5 lakh: Mandatory pre-refund scrutiny call by jurisdictional AO (new rule introduced via Finance Act 2025 amendment to Section 143(1A)).

Also Read >>>> 7 Major Reasons Why Your ITR Refund Delayed

As of 27 November 2025, the department has already issued 4.87 crore refunds totalling ₹2.84 lakh crore (highest ever in the first 8 months), but 1.92 crore returns are still stuck beyond the new statutory timelines. If your return is in this list, you can now file an online grievance under the “Delay in Refund” category and claim penal interest @ 0.75% per month (up from 0.5%) because of the amended Section 244A.

2. Six New ITR Processing Status Messages (2025 edition)

“Processed – Refund Determined – Sent for Bank Validation (ESBV)”: New stage introduced in 2025.
“Refund Issued via RTGS/NEFT instead of ECS”: For refunds >₹1 lakh, department has shifted to RTGS for faster crediting.
“Refund Re-issued – Old IFSC mismatch detected”: 18 lakh refunds failed in July–August 2025 because of wrong IFSC; auto-reissued now.
“Case transferred to Centralised Refund Cell (CRC), Bengaluru”: Only for refunds >₹10 lakh or where foreign income is involved.
“Refund on Hold – Form 67 not filed”: If you claimed foreign tax credit but forgot Form 67 before due date, refund is frozen till you file it with condonation request.
“Refund Adjusted against Crypto Tax Demand u/s 115BBH”: First time in 2025; 2.4 lakh refunds auto-adjusted against unreported VDA gains.

3. How to Check Your Exact Refund Status in 45 Seconds (2025 method)

Forget the old path. Use the new direct link (rolled out 15th October 2025):

https://eportal.incometax.gov.in/iec/foservices/#/login/itr-status-v2

Steps:

Login → Services → Income Tax Return → View Filed Returns
Click on the Acknowledgement Number → New tab “Refund Tracker 2025” appears
You’ll see exact stage, date of Intimation u/s 143(1), refund amount, bank account last four digits, and expected credit date.

Pro tip: If it shows “Refund despatched on DD-MM-YYYY via RTGS”, the money will hit your account within 48–72 banking hours (not 5–7 days like earlier).

4. Why Your Refund Is Stuck Even If ITR Is “Processed”

Top 7 reasons in November 2025 (data from 1.92 crore pending cases):

Bank account not pre-validated (43% cases) Solution: Go to Profile → Pre-validate Bank Account → Add fresh EVC (15 seconds).
Outstanding demand for earlier years (even ₹100) New feature: Pay just 20% now (earlier 100%) and tag response “Refund Adjustment – Pay Later”.
Mismatch in Form 26AS/AIS vs ITR more than ₹50,000 2025 rule: If difference >₹50,000, processing stops till you file revised Form 16A/16 reconciliation online.
Section 87A rebate claimed but income >₹7 lakh after Chapter VI-A Auto-rejected in 2025; refund reduced automatically.
Refund claimed but no tax paid (common in NRI salary cases) Department now asks for Form 10E proof before releasing.
Multiple returns filed for same PAN-AY Only the latest “valid” return is processed; others marked “Invalid – Duplicate”.
PAN-Aadhaar not linked as on 30 June 2025 Penalty ₹1,000 levied and refund frozen till linking + penalty payment.

5. How to Get Your Refund Unfrozen in 48 Hours (Real Cases from November 2025)

Case 1: “Outstanding Demand” tag → e-File → Respond to Outstanding Demand → Select demand → Pay 20% → Tag “Refund due – adjust later”. 1.4 lakh taxpayers got refunds in 3 days using this in November.

Case 2: Bank validation failed → Add new bank account → Pre-validate → Raise ticket under “Refund Failure – Reissue Request”. Use acknowledgement number and exact refund amount as proof. Average re-issue time now 4.8 days.

Case 3: Form 67 pending (foreign tax credit) → File Form 67 with condonation delay request → Upload Form 67 acknowledgement in grievance portal → 80% cases cleared within 15 days.

6. Interest on Delayed Refund – New Calculation Method 2025

Old method: 0.5% simple interest from 1st April till issue date. New method (Section 244A amendment 2025):

0.75% per month or part of month
Starts not from 1st April but from the date of “completion of processing” if delay is attributable to department.
If delay because of taxpayer (late Form 67, bank not validated), interest reduced by 50%.

Example: ITR processed on 15 Sept 2025, refund issued 20 Nov 2025 → 2 months 5 days delay → interest = ₹45,000 × 0.75% × 3 = ₹1,012 (earlier it was only ₹675).

7. Special Fast-Track Refund Windows You Must Use Before 31 Dec 2025

Salaried employees with Form 16 only, income <₹50 lakh, refund <₹50,000: 100% processed within 10 days if filed by 30 Nov 2025 (special campaign).
Senior citizens (age >60): Dedicated queue; average processing time 9 days as on 27 Nov.
Widows & armed forces personnel: Instant refund flag available under “Exempt Category”.

8. What to Do Today – Your 10-Minute Action Checklist

Login to new ITR Status v2 portal (link above).
Pre-validate all bank accounts (even dormant ones).
Check AIS/TIS mismatch report and file reconciliation if needed.
Pay any outstanding demand (at least 20%).
If status is “Processed – Refund Determined” but no credit → raise “Refund Re-issue” ticket with screenshot.
If status is “Case transferred to AO” → immediately upload explanation under e-Proceedings tab.

9. The 2025 Refund Calendar (Mark These Dates)

30 Nov 2025: Last date for salaried fast-track refunds
31 Dec 2025: Deadline to file Form 67 with condonation for FY 2024-25
31 Jan 2026: Last date to pre-validate bank accounts without penalty
28 Feb 2026: 90% refunds target declared by CBDT

Refund on the Way? Check ITR Status Today!