The Directorate of Income-tax (Systems) has issued an important directive dated 12.09.2019 on the subject of functionality for processing of returns having refund claims which were not processed within the time allowed u/s 143(1) due to some technical or other reasons
ITBA-Processing Instruction No 9
DIRECTORATE OFINCOME TAX(SYSTEMS)
ARA Center, Ground Floor, E-2, [aandewalan Extens ion,
New Delhi -11 0055
F.No. System/ITBA/ Instruction/ITR Processing/177/16-17/
To,
Dated: 12.09.2019
All Principal Chief Commiss ioners of Income-tax/ CCsIT
All Principal Director Generals of Income Tax /DGsIT
All Principal Commissioners of lncome-tax/Csl’T/Cs IT(Admin & TPS)
All Principal Directors of Income Tax/Ds IT
Sir/Madam,Subject: – Functionality for processing of returns having refund claims
which were not processed within the time allowed ujs 143(1) due to
some technical or other reasons- reg.This is in reference to the subject mentioned above.
2. References from the field formations and tax payers have been received in this
Directorate informing that due to some technical reason or otherwise but not
attributable to the assessee, the valid returns filed by tax payers, could not be
processed within the time prescribed under section 143(1) of the Act. Due to which,
refund due to the assessee could not be issued.3. To mitigate the genuine hardship being faced by the tax payers on this issue, the
CBDT, in exercise of powers conferred on it, under section 119 of the Act, has
relaxed the time frame prescribed in second proviso to sub section (1) of secti on
143 till 31.12.2019, vide Order under se ct ion 11 9 of the Act dated 05.08.2019
issued through File N0225/194/2019/ITA-I1. Therefore all concerned are requested to forward such references/ proposals at the earliest to this directorate, for
the enablement of processing of such time barred returns. The proposals for the
enablement of tim e barred processing must reach to the Directorate of Systems,
New Delhi by 30.11.2019 so that these references can be processed well with in the
tim e period ending on 31.12.2019. It is also to clarify that in each such case, the
processing rights will be enabled by the ITBA team and subsequently, the
processing action has to be performed by the respective assessing officer. All
re ferences must be sent alongwith administrative a pproval of concerned
PCCIT/ CCIT to this Direc torate. In the absence of administ rative a pproval of
CCIT, such reference s will not be considered.
The following scheme and validation are prescribed in the above sa id Order.
Pre-Conditions:
(i) Valid return for th e assessmen t years is fil ed under permi tt ed time limit u/ s 139 or
142 (1).
(ii) Assessee has claimed refund in retu rn of income.
(iii) On computatio n, the resultant outcome is refund.
(iv) The returns of income should not have been remained unprocessed due to any reason
attributable to th e concerned assessee.
(v) The returns of incom e should not be under Scrutiny assessment in view of provisions
of su b- se ct io n (1 D) of section 143 of th e Act .
Processes to be followed :
(i) Prio r adm inistrative approval of concern ed Pr.CCIT/CCIT must be obtained for
processing of such eligible time-barred ret urns.
(ii) Once adminis tra tive approval is accor ded by the concerned PCCIT/ CCIT, the
concerned Pr.CIT/ CIT woul d make refe rence to the Pro DGIT (Systems). to provide
necessary enablement in system to the assessing officer on case to case basis.
4. In view of above Instru ction from CBDT. the field formations are requested to follow
following process :-
(a) For the cases up to A.Y. 2006-07: Cases for these years will not be Processed in
System, The AO can process such time-barred re turns manually afte r obtaining prior
approval of concern ed Pr.CCIT/ CCIT and th er eafter upload the int imation u/s 143(1)
in ITBA thro ugh manual ord er upload functionality as explained in ITBA Assessment
Instr uction No 9 dated 07.05.201B. The administrative approval of Pr.CC IT/CCIT may
ITBA-Processing Instruction No 9
be communicated by the PCITfCIT to the Pro DGIT(Systems) alongwith amount of
re fund claime d so that necessary enablerncnt in system to upload such intimation
may be acti vated. The refund determined in the processing will be issued through
refund banker
(b) For the cases of A. Yr. 2007-08 to 2015-16: Cases of th ese yea rs will be required to
be pro cessed in AST. The administ rative approval of Pr.CCITfCCIT may be
commun icate d by th e PCITf CIT to the Pro DGIT(Systems) so that necessary
enablement in system to upload such intimation may be activated. Thereafter
concerned assessing officer will be able to process such time time bar red returns. The
re fund arising out of processing will be issued th rough refund banker.
(c) Cases ofA. Yrs. 2016-1 7 & 2017-18 : For the AYrs . 2016-17 & 2017-18 all the Paper
returns and e-filed returns pushed to AO by CPC-ITR are required to be processed at
ITBA as per process described in ITBA Processing Instructions issued so far. If any
such return is not processed, the process given in Para (b) is required to be followed.
After which th e necessary enablement will be activated in system. The AO are required
to enter or modify th e data and se nd the return to CPC-ITR for final computation and
issuance of refu nd.
(d) For the e-flled cases which were not transferred to AO and remained
unprocessed at CPC-ITR :
Cases in which valid unp rocessed returns of income are lying with CPC, Bengaluru and
the assessing officer is in receipt of request from the assessee seeking refund, the AO is
requ ired to ve rify that all the pre-con ditio ns as per CBDT Inst ructions are com plied
an d obtain th e approval of Pr.CClTfCIT to process such time-barred returns.
Thereafter, the reference along with approval of Pro CCITfCCIT will have to be
forwarded to CPC for further necessary action. The AO has to ensure that no
assessment orde r (Man ual or otherwise) is passed in such cases. Thereafter CPC•ITR
will process s uch cases and issue refund as per extant procedure,
5. The navigati on path for processing of such returns is given as und er:
(a) In AST• For th e return of A Yr. 2007-08 to 2015-16: To process such cases, AO has to
fetch the re quis ite return through the path “AST > Processing > Proc essi ng ufs
143(1)’ .
(b) In ITBA- For the AYrs. 2016-17 & 2017-18 : ITR Processing> Return Receipt Register
> View RRRfEnter Return Details
(c) Returns prior to A Yr. 2007-08: These returns are required to be processed manually
after getting approval of Pro CCITfCCIT and upload in ITBA through manual order
upload functionali ty through the path –
Go to Assessme nt home page> Menu Manual Order Upload
6. The complete proced ure is elaborated in the user manual for the funct ion ality whi ch is
available on ITBA for th e convenience of the users. This may be circulated amongs t all
ITBA-Processing Instruction No 9
officers working in your charge. With this, the var ious re presentations received from
field format ions in th is regard sta nd disp osed off.
7. In case of any tec hnical difficulty being observed, users may immediately contact the
ITBAhelpd esk .
A. URL of helpd csk of ITBA: http_:/ /itbahelpdesk.incometa x.net
B. Helpd esk number – 0120-28112 00
C. Email id : itba.helpdesk@jncomet ax.goy.in
8. It is further emphasized that a ll such cases should be examined on priority and
re fer ence as per prescribed procedure be sent to this Direc torate or to CPC-ITR
as the case may be , as soon as possible. It is expect ed that all officers may
henceforth use the aforesaid process, wherever required, while redressing the
grievance of tax payers seeking refund where relevant returns could not be
processed due to reasons not attributable to the assessee.
9. This is issued with the prior approval of ProDGIT (Systems).
Yours sincerely,
(Sukes h Kumar Jain)
Commissioner of Income Tax (ITBA)
Directorate of Systems, New Delhi
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