Every year, income tax refunds become one of the most stressful parts of the tax season for millions of taxpayers. Salaried individuals, small businesses, freelancers, and senior citizens often have to wait for their income tax refunds after filing tax returns. The wait period, though, depends on a range of other factors like timing of return filing, complexity of return, return forms used and also the amount of refund. Though the government has streamlined the whole return filing and refund processes in a major way over the last few years, there are still cases reported when taxpayers waited for months before their refunds finally reached their bank accounts. And most taxpayers awaiting their refunds have this most common pain point: they don’t know what’s happening in the middle, as the Income Tax Department website doesn’t have a real-time refund tracking system.
A refund may be “processed,” “under verification,” “sent to bank,” or “on hold”, but taxpayers rarely get a clear picture. And when larger refunds are involved, anxiety shoots up even more.
2025 income tax returns – Latest data on ITR submissions to processing
According to the latest data update on the Income Tax Department’s website, 8.21 crore income tax returns have been filed till 26th November 2025. Of this, around 8.1 crore returns are verified. But when it comes to processing of these ITRs, around 6.98 crore returns are processed, which means over 1.11 crore returns are yet to be processed. This means that most of these return filers must be awaiting their refunds from the government.
This is why Deloitte India, in its Budget 2026 wishlist, has made a key recommendation: India needs a real-time refund tracking dashboard on the income tax portal.
Why taxpayers need real-time tracking now more than ever
Despite improvements in recent years, refund delays still make headlines every tax season. In fact, even this year, many taxpayers have been waiting much longer than usual.
Recently, CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal publicly acknowledged that refunds have been delayed for a segment of taxpayers as the department is analysing certain high-value or flagged claims before releasing the money. While he assured that legitimate refunds will be issued, he also admitted that the verification process is taking longer.
For the common taxpayer, the problem is not just the delay — it’s the lack of clarity. They simply do not know:
-Why is the refund delayed?
-What stage is it stuck at?
-Is additional verification happening?
-Do they need to respond to something?
This leaves individuals refreshing the portal repeatedly, raising grievances, or calling helplines — only to receive templated responses.
What Deloitte recommends for Budget 2026
Deloitte’s pre-budget submission stresses a simple but powerful idea – give taxpayers a live, transparent, step-by-step tracker just like a courier tracking system.
Here’s what they propose:
-Clear status indicators with expected timelines
-Statuses such as ‘Under processing’, ‘approved’, ‘sent to bank’, ‘credited’,
-This alone would remove 70% of the uncertainty.
-An escalate/raise concern button
-If a refund is stuck beyond the expected timeline, taxpayers should be able to escalate it directly.
-Integration with grievance redressal and notifications
-Timely alerts through SMS or email, rather than taxpayers having to manually check the portal.
Alignment with global best practices
Countries like the US and UK already offer detailed refund tracking. India can easily adopt a similar system.
Why this feature can be a game-changer
- Reduces anxiety and confusion
People waiting for large refunds—especially after job changes, TDS mismatches, or high-value transactions—often worry unnecessarily. A live tracker removes guesswork.
- Saves time for both taxpayers and the tax department
Fewer grievance filings, fewer emails, fewer calls to the helpline.
- Better financial planning
For salaried taxpayers, refunds can be big cash-flow events. Knowing whether it will come in 5 days or 5 weeks makes a huge difference.
- Cuts down on misinformation and panic
When refunds take too long, social media is full of confusion and rumours. A transparent tracker sets expectations straight.
Other compliance fixes recommended by Deloitte for Budget 2026
Along with refund tracking, Deloitte has also suggested easing the TDS compliance burden on homebuyers when the seller is an NRI. Today, buyers must:
-Deduct higher TDS, obtain a TAN, file e-TDS returns
-Wait weeks or months if a no-TDS certificate is required
-This is a heavy burden, especially since buying property is not a recurring activity.
-A simplified, digital, predictable process would reduce compliance risk and help both buyers and sellers.
Why these changes matter now
Refund delays this year, combined with rising taxpayer complaints and inconsistencies in AIS/TIS data, have made transparency a top public demand.
A real-time refund dashboard is not just a convenience feature — it is a necessity.
It can bring clarity, reduce disputes, prevent panic, and make India’s tax system more user-friendly.
As Budget 2026 approaches, taxpayers are hoping that this long-felt need finally becomes reality.