Individuals, firms find wait for tax refunds is shorter: Survey
Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday showed that 87% of the individual respondents and 89% of the firms felt claiming income tax refund was convenient. Checking refund status was reported as smooth by 84% of individuals and 77% of firms. The extensive steps introduced by the government in recent years to streamline, simplify and automate the tax regime have borne rich dividends as is evident from the survey results on assessing speed and efficiency of income tax refunds, a statement from the finance ministry on the survey said quoting CII president R.
Dinesh. The survey found that 75.5% of the individuals did not pay excess tax deducted at source (TDS) over and above their estimated tax liability. However, 8% of the respondents who were required to pay TDS, ended up paying TDS in excess of their tax liability by 10-20%.
The survey showed that 22.4% of entities surveyed did not pay any TDS over and above their estimated tax liability. Out of the ones who were required to pay TDS, 19.6% of the firms paid excess TDS up to 10%, followed by 25.7% of the firms paying excess TDS within the range of 10-20% and 19% paying an excess TDS in the range of 20-30%, the survey showed. The survey noted that 89% of the individuals and 88% of the firms found a greater reduction in waiting time for getting income tax refund over the last five years.
As per the survey, 53.2% of individuals felt it usually takes less than a month to receive income tax refund, while 48.9% of firms reported the time taken varies between one and three months. It also said 83% of the individuals and 85% firms have “an increased trust factor" with the income tax department. An overwhelming majority of respondents—above 90%—including individuals, firms and enterprises
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