Covid-19: Tax authorities hurry to issue refunds to ease businesses’ fund crunch
CBDT says income tax refund worth ₹5,204 crore has been issued in last 10 days alone to nearly 8.2 lakh small businesses
New Delhi: The direct and indirect tax authorities are issuing tax refunds on a priority basis to ease the liquidity crunch businesses are facing in the absence of sales during the nationwide lockdown.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said in a statement on Friday that it was fully committed to helping taxpayers. “Since 30 March, 2020, CBIC has processed 12,923 refund applications involving claims worth Rs. 5,575 crore," it said.
In a separate statement, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that income tax refund worth ₹5,204 crore has been issued in last 10 days alone to nearly 8.2 lakh small businesses. These include proprietors, firms, corporate houses and trusts. “These income tax refunds would help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to carry on their business activities without pay cuts and layoffs in Covid-19 pandemic situations," CBDT said in a statement.
Since 8 April, the Income Tax department has issued nearly 1.4 million refunds up to Rs. five lakh each in order to help taxpayers. “Keeping its focus on providing relief to small businesses, CBDT will further issue refund of ₹7,760 crore at the earliest," said the statement.
The apex direct tax policy making body also said that in around 1.74 lakh cases, responses are awaited from taxpayers regarding reconciliation with their outstanding tax demand for which reminder emails have been sent. Businesses are facing a situation of having to meet their fixed costs while revenue receipts have dried up during the lockdown. According to experts, the problem is acute in the case of MSMEs, which are an important link in the value chain.
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