How to Check Your Income Tax Refund Status on the e-Filing Portal, Step by Step

The Scenario

You filed your income-tax return for FY 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27) sometime in July 2026, the arithmetic on the last screen showed a positive figure in your favour, and now you refresh your banking app every morning wondering when the credit will arrive. A refund is not a bonus from the government; it simply means the tax already collected from you through TDS, TCS, advance tax or self-assessment tax exceeded your actual liability for the year, and the excess is being returned. According to the Income Tax Department's refund status user manual, once your return is processed it "usually takes 4-5 weeks for the refund to be credited to the account of the taxpayer" (incometax.gov.in).

The catch that trips up thousands of filers every season is timing: the 4-5 week clock does not start when you file, it starts when your return is processed, and processing itself starts only after the return has been e-verified within 30 days of filing (CBDT Notification No. 5/2022, effective 1 August 2022). If you skipped e-verification, your return is treated as never filed and no refund can move. This article walks through exactly where to look on the portal, what each of the four refund statuses means, and how the interest under Section 244A is computed on a worked salary example.

Statutory Answer

The refund itself is governed by Section 237 of the Income-tax Act 1961, which entitles you to a refund when the tax paid exceeds the amount properly chargeable. The formal recognition of that excess happens through the intimation issued under Section 143(1) once the Centralised Processing Centre finishes processing your return. Only after that Section 143(1) intimation is generated does the "refund issued" status appear on the portal.

To check the live status, the official manual (incometax.gov.in) prescribes a fixed navigation path, reproduced below.

The portal reports exactly four refund statuses, and each carries a different consequence. The distinction between "adjusted" and "failed" matters, because an adjustment is a lawful set-off under Section 245 of the Income-tax Act 1961, whereas a failure is a banking or PAN problem that you must fix yourself.

Where the refund is adjusted under Section 245, the Department is required to give you a prior intimation and an opportunity to respond before setting the refund against any earlier demand, so a "partially adjusted" status should never arrive as a complete surprise if you have been reading your portal messages since the demand was first raised.

Worked Resolution

Consider Riya, a salaried professional in Bengaluru with a gross salary of Rs 14,00,000 for FY 2025-26, taxed under the default new regime. Her employer deducted Rs 92,000 as TDS across the year, but her actual liability, once the standard deduction of Rs 75,000 (new regime, per rate-config) is applied, works out lower. The table below shows the slab-wise computation on her net taxable income of Rs 13,25,000 using the FY 2025-26 new-regime slabs.

Riya's income of Rs 13,25,000 sits above the Rs 12,00,000 rebate threshold, so the enhanced Section 87A rebate of Rs 60,000 available in the new regime does not apply to her (it only zeroes out liability up to Rs 12,00,000 of taxable income). Her final liability is Rs 81,900 against Rs 92,000 already deducted, producing a refund of Rs 10,100 before interest. You can reproduce this exact figure using the income tax calculator and cross-check what your employer deducted with the TDS calculator.

Now the interest. Section 244A of the Income-tax Act 1961 pays simple interest at 0.5% per month or part of a month (6% per annum) on a refund, running from 1 April of the assessment year to the date the refund is granted, where the refund arises out of TDS, TCS or advance tax and the return was filed on time. A crucial proviso: no interest is payable if the refund is less than 10% of the tax determined under Section 143(1).

Because Rs 10,100 comfortably exceeds the Rs 8,190 floor, the Section 244A interest is triggered, and Riya receives Rs 10,403 rather than Rs 10,100. Had her refund been, say, Rs 6,000 (below the Rs 8,190 floor), the proviso would have denied interest entirely. If you are weighing the two regimes before you even file, the old vs new regime comparison shows how the choice changes both your liability and the refund that follows.

FAQ

How long does an income tax refund take after e-verification?

The Income Tax Department's own manual states it "usually takes 4-5 weeks" from processing for the refund to be credited (incometax.gov.in). Since processing begins only after e-verification, the practical rule is: e-verify within the 30-day window (CBDT Notification No. 5/2022), then allow roughly four to five weeks after your Section 143(1) intimation lands.

Why does my refund status show "failed"?

Per the official manual, a refund fails for one of five reasons: an inoperative PAN not linked to Aadhaar, a bank account that has not been pre-validated, a name mismatch between your PAN and bank records, an invalid IFSC code, or a bank account that has since been closed. All five are fixable by you on the portal; none require a fresh return. Understanding the tax refund mechanics helps you spot which of the five applies.

What does "refund partially adjusted" mean?

It means the Department invoked Section 245 of the Income-tax Act 1961 to set off part of your current refund against an outstanding demand from an earlier year, and paid you only the balance. You are entitled to a prior intimation before any such adjustment, so review the demand notices in your portal inbox for the assessment year cited before assuming the set-off is correct.

Do I earn interest if my refund is delayed?

Yes, under Section 244A at 0.5% per month or part of a month (6% per annum), calculated from 1 April of the assessment year to the date of grant, provided the refund is at least 10% of the tax determined under Section 143(1). On a Rs 10,100 refund held for six months, that interest is Rs 303, and it is itself taxable in the year of receipt.

Can I check my refund status without logging in?

Yes. The e-Filing portal offers a pre-login "Know Your Refund Status" service where you enter your PAN, the assessment year (2026-27 for FY 2025-26) and an OTP sent to your registered mobile. It returns the same four statuses, though the full return "life cycle" and the Section 143(1) intimation are visible only after you log in.

How do I fix a failed refund so it can be reissued?

Log in, open Services → Refund Reissue, add or re-validate a bank account (the account must be pre-validated and, ideally, the name must match your PAN exactly), select it, and submit the refund reissue request. Because self-assessment tax and TDS credits sit in your Form 26AS, confirm those first; the self-assessment tax entry explains how any top-up you paid feeds into the refund computation.