‘Globally best in class...’: Mohandas Pai hails ‘super-fast’ experience of filing and refund issued by the Income Tax Dept

Former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai hailed the ‘super-fast’ experience of filing and refund issued by the Income Tax Department. Pai took to social media to highlight the easy and fast process right from the start of filing his return to the refund issued.

“Fantastic work by @IncomeTaxIndia Return filed yesterday, refund received! Globally best in class. Thanks much @IncomeTaxIndia @nsitharaman @FinMinIndia @narendramodi @PMOIndia This is truly amazing! Great tax payers service,” he wrote in a post on X (formally Twitter).

However, many users pointed out that he was just lucky while some questioned why they were not ‘fortunate’ like Pai.

“You have been lucky, not me. I received refund forty days after filing of revised ITR,” wrote one user.

“Not in my case - Return processed but refund is awaited - more than 45 days :). Still I go with your 'Best in Class' comment. Hats off to I-T,” wrote another.

“You probably got VIP suite class treat !. TDS on house sale deducted and Govt enjoyed free interest for 10 months on which no tax applicable. I do keep hearing many got refund quickly- algorithm black box!” another user wrote.

Earlier, many taxpayers struggled with the e-filing portal this year. Problems with the portal have led to a surge of complaints on social media. Various chartered accountant associations have also contacted the tax department about these issues.

Issues faced by taxpayers: 

Access problems and discrepancies: Taxpayers are having trouble accessing Form 26AS/AIS, and there are often discrepancies between figures in different statements

Limited response options: The AIS/TIS portal doesn’t always offer adequate options for taxpayers to respond to the information reflected in these statements.

Delayed updates: Even after updating their responses, many taxpayers find that changes don’t appear promptly in the TIS.

Technical glitches: Continuous buffering on the portal makes it difficult to complete form filling.

Mismatch in pre-filled data: There are instances where pre-filled data in the income-tax return doesn’t match the data in Form 26AS.

Dividend income issues: For taxpayers with business income, reflecting dividend income in Schedule OS is problematic.

Error messages: Taxpayers are receiving error messages while trying to file their returns, delaying the process.

Non-receipt of OTPs: Some taxpayers aren’t receiving the One Time Password (OTP) needed for authentication.

Downloading issues: Problems with downloading ITR receipts, which are proof of submission, have also been reported.