It seems that long waits and weeks of uncertainty after filing income tax returns (ITRs) have become the thing of the past, at least for many individual taxpayers. This year, many taxpayers are receiving their income tax refunds within mere hours of e-filing their income tax returns.
This is a major shift from past years, where refunds used to take more than 90 days. In the current assessment year (AY 2025-26), some taxpayers have received their tax refunds in their bank accounts within 4 hours of filing their return. One might recall the time some 12-13 years ago when this refund used to take more than 90 days to come. Now, thanks to fast digital processes, this time is getting reduced to hours.
ALSO READITR filing AY 2025-26 deadline to be extended again? Expert explains key reasons Refund came in a few hours! Taxpayers’ experience
One media professional, Arun Prakash from Noida, received his tax refund within 4 hours of submitting ITR on the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department. He says, “I filed my return using ITR Form 1 at around 5.03 pm, and by 9.02 pm on the same day, the refund came in my bank account.” He shared with us timestamped proof of both the ITR submission and the refund credit to back his claim. Below are screenshots of the confirmation messages showing the exact filing and refund times.
Tax professionals are saying that previously it was taking the income tax department an average of 30–40 days to issue refunds, but this time some taxpayers have got their refunds on the same day of filing their ITR.
Deepak Verma, a tax professional, said, “Many of my clients got their fastest-ever refunds the same day they filed their ITR. This is a great example of the department’s digital efficiency.”
That said, these are just a handful of tax return filers who have received their refunds in record time — some on the same day. Whether a large number of taxpayers are getting their ITRs processed and refunded this quickly is still uncertain, as there is no large data to support that claim yet. However, what’s undeniable is that the system has become far more efficient. After all, who would have imagined a decade ago that tax refunds could be settled within just a few hours of filing.
» Read More
