ITR refund 2026: Filed income tax return within July 31, 2026 deadline? Here’s when you may get your tax refund

The due date to file Income Tax Return (ITR) form 1 and 2 for the Assessment Year (AY) 2026-27 (FY 2025-26) was July 31, 2026, and as per a tweet from the Income Tax Department, more than 5.9 crore income tax returns were filed by the deadline.

With the filing season now over for most salaried taxpayers, many who submitted and e-verified their ITRs on time are eagerly waiting for their income tax refunds. While refunds are generally processed quickly for error-free returns, the actual timeline depends on factors such as successful e-verification, return processing and whether any discrepancies are detected.

When will you receive your income tax refund for FY 25-26 (AY 2026-27)?

Note that the Income Tax Department starts the refund process only after the return is e-verified by a taxpayer. As per the Income tax website, “It takes 4-5 weeks for the refund to be credited to the account of a taxpayer. However, if refund is not received during this duration, the taxpayer must check for intimation regarding discrepancies in ITR; check email for any notification from the I-T Department regarding the refund. The taxpayer can also check refund status on e-filing as per the process detailed hereunder.”



Chartered accountant Abhishek Soni explains, “If you filed your ITR in the last week of July and e-verified it successfully, you can generally expect your tax refund within 2 to 6 weeks, depending on your return and verification status. For most taxpayers, this means the refund may be credited between mid-August and mid-September, provided there are no mismatches or additional checks required.”

What is the ITR refund?

Income tax refund means a refund amount that is initiated by the Income Tax Department if the amount paid in taxes exceeds the actual amount due (either by way of TDS or TCS or advance tax or self-assessment tax). The tax is calculated after taking into consideration all the deductions and exemptions at the time of assessment by the Income Tax Department.

How to check ITR refund status?

Pre-requisites for availing this service

• Valid user ID and password
• PAN is linked with Aadhaar number
• Note: If your PAN is inoperative, your refund will fail and you will see a warning message to link your PAN with the Aadhaar.

Step 1: Go to the e-filing portal homepage.
Step 2: Enter the user ID and password.
Step 3: Go to e-File tab > Income Tax Returns > View Filed Returns.
Step 4: Now you can check the refund status for the desired Assessment year.
Click on View Details and here you can also check the life cycle of filed ITR.

Below are few refund status

• Status 1: When refund is issued:
• Status 2: When refund is partially adjusted:
• Status 3: When full refund adjusted:
• Status 4: When refund is failed:

Here are few other reasons of tax refund failure:
Your income tax refund may not be credited to your bank account for the following reasons:
1. In case the bank account is not pre-validated, it is now compulsory to pre-validate your bank account.
2. The name mentioned in the bank account does not match with PAN card details.
3. In case of an invalid IFSC code.
4. If the account that you have mentioned in the ITR has been closed.