The income tax department on Saturday asked taxpayers to respond to intimation from the IT department regarding outstanding demands of previous years to facilitate faster clearance of refunds for the 2022-23 fiscal.

With some taxpayers taking to social media about receiving intimation from the IT department regarding past unsettled tax demands, the department in a post on ‘X’ said this is a taxpayer-friendly measure where an opportunity is being provided to assessees in line with “principles of natural justice”.

As many as 7.09 crore returns have been filed for income earned in the 2022-23 fiscal. Of these, 6.96 crore ITRs have been verified, of which 6.46 crore returns have been processed as of date, including 2.75 crore refund returns.

“However, there are a few cases in which refunds are due to the taxpayer, but previous demands are outstanding, the department said,” the IT department said.

Section 245(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, mandates providing an opportunity for taxpayers to make a representation before adjusting the refund against an existing demand. The taxpayer is required to agree, disagree or clarify the status of the demand.

“Accordingly, taxpayers with existing demand(s) in the previous years are being intimated of the same … Taxpayers are requested to avail this opportunity and respond to such intimations to enable cleaning up/reconciliation of pending demands and facilitate timely issue of refunds,” it said.

The Income Tax Department further said it is making every effort to complete the processing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and issuance of refunds expeditiously.

The net direct tax collection increased 23.51 per cent to over Rs 8.65 lakh crore till mid-September on higher advance tax mop-up from corporates. The net collections have reached 47.45 per cent of the full-year budget estimates (BE) of Rs 18.23 lakh crore.

The steady growth in tax collection was helped by a 21 per cent growth in advance tax mop-up. September 15 was the last date for paying the second instalment of advance tax for 2023-24. Net direct tax collection includes corporate income tax at Rs 4,16,217 crore and personal income tax, including Securities Transaction Tax at Rs 4,47,291 crore.