Deloitte India, a major chartered accountancy firm, has proposed add a real-time refund tracking system on the Income Tax portal as part of its recommendations for Union Budget 2026-27 - more like how we track courier packages.
This feature aims to address taxpayer's big frustrations like -
A filer rarely know what's happing behind the scenes. The portal shows statuses like "processed", "under verification", "sent to bank" or "on hold", but doesn't give clear updates - so people don't know why there's a delay or what step is pending.
The proposal include - a live dashboard that will show clear status of your refund. For example " under processing", "approved", "sent to bank", credited etc to estimated refund timelines. A button to escalate or raise concern if refund is taking too long. SMS/email alerts for reduction of unnecessary portal visits and grievance filings.
Currently as of November 26, 2025, over 8.21 crore ITRs were filed, approx 8.1 crore verified but only 6.98 crore processed which means more than 1 crore returns are still pending.
Department acknowledge that delays are happening this year, especially for returns with high refund claims, errors or complex ITR forms i.e., refunds involving large amounts or returns that need extra verification.
The hope is that the upcoming Budget will consider adding this tracking facility. While not guaranteed, the proposal seeks government consideration for transparency akin to global practices. Implementation - will benefit salaried individuals, freelancers, small businesses, and seniors waiting months post-filing, minimizing repeated helpline calls or grievances .
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