Income Tax Return: IT refunds jump 474% to ₹4.77 lakh crore in last 11 years — Details here

Income Tax Return: India’s Income Tax Refunds witnessed a nearly fivefold or 474% jump in the last 11 years to ₹4.77 lakh crore in 2024-25 due to the improvement in the nation’s tax administration.

The rise in tax refunds and the decrease in the number of days to issue those refunds are due to the adoption of digital infrastructure, including end-to-end online filing and faceless assessment, which helps to make the refund process faster and more accurate for processing ITRs, as per the people cited above, reported news agency PTI, citing people aware of the development.

“As the taxpayer base expands and advance tax payments and TDS mechanisms deepen, refunds become more common. The growing volume and share of refunds are thus not merely a statistical trend but a meaningful signal of systemic maturity,” said officials.

Tax Refunds

Income Tax Refunds has reportedly outpaced the growth in tax collections, as the gross tax collections witnessed a 274% growth to ₹27.03 lakh crore as of 2024-25, compared to ₹7.22 lakh crore as of 2013-14, people aware of the development told the news agency.

The report also highlighted that the number of days taken to issue ITRs to the people decreased from 93 days in 2013 to 17 days in 2024, marking an 81% decrease.

In the financial year ended 2023-24, the Income Tax Department issued ITRs of ₹83,008 crore, compared to its current levels of ₹4.77 crore ITRs in the year ended 2024-25. 

According to the agency report, the IT returns filed have grown by 133% to 8.89 crore in 2024, compared to 3.8 crore levels in 2013. The refunds as a proportion of gross direct taxes collected also jumped to 17.6% as of 2024-25, compared to their 11.5% levels in 2013-14.

The introduction of pre-filled returns, automation in refund processing, real-time TDS adjustments and online grievance redress mechanisms have led to reduced delays and improved the taxpayers’ experience, according to the agency report.

“As the taxpayer base expands and advance tax payments and TDS mechanisms deepen, refunds become more common. The growing volume and share of refunds are thus not merely a statistical trend but a meaningful signal of systemic maturity,” said the people aware of the development.