The Income Tax Department has processed 73.71% of all the verified income tax returns (ITRs) as of August 22, 2024, 1 pm. According to data available on the e-filing ITR portal, 7,13,00,901 ITRs were verified and 5,25,53,097 ITRs were processed as on date. This means 26.29% or 1,87,47,804 ITRs are yet to be processed (7,13,00,901 minus 5,25,53,097). If you fall in this 26% group, then you might be curious as to why your ITR has yet to be processed, as more than half of the ITRs have already been processed.

The Income Tax Department's Centralized Processing Center (CPC) processes ITRs digitally using automated systems. "Given that most tax returns were filed in the last week of July, near the due date, it is commendable that 70% of them have already been processed in just 20 days. The remaining returns are expected to be processed soon. Once an ITR is processed, taxpayers who claim a tax refund can expect it soon," says Ankit Jain, partner, Ved Jain & Associates. However, when we compare it with the recent data on average processing time coming down to 11 days in 2023 from 93 days in 2013, it appears that the IT department may be taking more time on the remaining ITRs.