In the context of the COVID-19 situation and with a view to provide immediate relief to the business entities and individuals, the Income Tax Department has decided to issue all the pending income-tax refunds up to Rs 5 lakh, immediately.
The decision would benefit around 14 lakh taxpayers.
“It has also been decided to issue all pending GST and Custom refunds which would provide benefit to around 1 lakh business entities, including MSME. Thus, the total refund granted will be approximately Rs 18,000 crore,” the ministry of finance and corporate affairs said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the I-T Department has asked taxpayers to guard against possible breach of their personal e-filing account and report such an instance to the police cyber security wing.
"If you think your e-filing account many have been compromised or accessed in an unauthorised manner, then you may be a victim of cybercrime," the department said in an advisory.
"Please report the incident to the concerned police or cyber cell authorities as a first step," it said.
A senior official said the advisory has been issued in the wake of an increased vulnerability and attacks on online systems as the country and the world battle the COVID-19 pandemic and more online systems are being used due to a major scaling down of human interface.
