Waiting for pending old ITR? You may soon get ITR refund or income tax demand notice as CBDT extends the deadline till 30 November 2025

Good news for those taxpayers who have any pending tax refund due despite filing their income tax returns (ITR) on or before the deadline. The Income Tax Department has said such unprocessed ITRs for AY 2023-24 (FY 2022-23) will now be processed by them by November 30, 2025. This announcement by the tax department can mean either of these three things:

• Tax refund: Once the said ITRs are processed, eligible taxpayers can get their due tax refunds.
• Tax demand notice: Some taxpayers may get a tax demand notice depending on what information the tax department digs out after processing the said ITR.
• No refund no tax demand: The ITR is simply processed as it is i.e. without any tax refund or tax demand.

Read below to know more about what the income tax department said.

What did the income tax department say?

According to the income tax department office order dated June 9, 2025 here are the details:

“Order u/s 119(2)(a) of the Income-tax Act,1961 regarding processing of returns filed u/s 139 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 beyond the prescribed time limit. Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby relaxes the time-frame prescribed in second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 143 and directs that electronically filed valid returns of income filed u/s 139 of the Act for Assessment Years 2023-24, for which date of sending intimation under sub-section (1) of section 143 of the Act has lapsed, shall be processed now and intimation under sub-section (1) of section 143 of the Act shall be sent to the assessee concerned by 30.11.2025.”

What does this mean?

The above mentioned office order means that all those pending ITRs filed on or before July 31, 2023 for FY 2022-23 (AY 2023-24) which could not be processed before the tax department’s deadline will now be processed by November 30, 2025. As per the tax law, the tax department has the power to process an duly filed ITR on or before the end of 9 months from the end of the financial year for which the ITR was filed.

Chartered Accountant Ashish Karundia says: “The Income-tax Act, 1961, imposes a 9-month deadline for issuing intimation after processing an income tax return. For returns filed for the FY 2022-23 (AY 2023–24), this deadline has already passed. However, this circular provides a relaxation, allowing intimations to be issued up to November 30, 2025 in specific cases. The ITR may be processed either by accepting the information provided by the taxpayer or by generating a demand or refund.”“”By virtue of 2nd proviso to section 143(1), the returns for AY 2023-24, were required to be processed and corresponding Intimation Orders u/s 143(1) were supposed to be sent by CPC within 9 months of the end of the FY 2023-24, in which returns were filed, i.e., by December 31, 2024.” says chartered accountant Mayank Mohanka, founder, Taxaaram.com.

Which taxpayers may get a tax demand notice under Section 148 due to this deadline extension?

Mohanka says: “In my understanding fresh demands pursuant to these Intimation Orders u/s 143(1) can’t be raised now, as section 119(2)(a) doesn’t allow CBDT to pass any Orders, which are prejudicial to assessses. As per law, fresh demands can’t be raised u/s 143(1), for AY 2023-24, as even the time barring deadline of completion of regular assessment proceedings u/s 143(3) had also expired on 31.3.2025. However, as per section 148 window of income escaping assessment, for issuing reassessment notice, for such cases, may be invoked, but subject to the fulfilment of stipulated conditions and eligibility criteria prescribed in the said section.”

Which taxpayers can benefit from this deadline extension?

Mohanka says: “This deadline extension will be beneficial for those taxpayers, whose tax refunds remained pending till date, due to non processing of their ITRs by Centralised Processing Centre (CPC). They will also be entitled for interest on their refunds under Section 244A at 0.5% per month. Interest on refunds arising out of TDS & advance tax will become payable for the period starting from April 2023 till this extended period of return processing. For refunds, arising out of self assessment tax, interest will become payable from the date of ITR filing till this extended date of ITR processing.”

Which ITRs are not eligible for this extended deadline?

The relaxation in deadline as mentioned above is not applicable to the following ITRs:
a. returns selected in scrutiny;
b. returns remain unprocessed for any reason attributable to the assessee.

“In cases where PAN-Aadhaar is not linked, refund of any amount of tax or part thereof, due under the provisions of the Act shall not be made as laid down in Circular No.03/2023 dated 28.03.2023 vide F.No.370142/14/2022-TPL,” said the Income Tax Department in the order dated June 9, 2025.

Karundia explains that tax refunds will only be issued if the taxpayer’s PAN is linked with their Aadhaar.