Filed But Not Processed? How to Track Your ITR Status Through Its Processing Stages

You submitted your income-tax return, the acknowledgement popped up on screen, and then nothing. Weeks pass, the refund has not landed, and the portal simply says the return is "under processing". This guide walks through every stage an Income Tax Return (ITR) moves through for Assessment Year 2025-26, how to read the status at each step, and what to do when a stage stalls.

The Scenario

Consider Meera, a salaried professional in Pune who filed her ITR for AY 2025-26 on 20 July 2025, comfortably ahead of the 31 July 2025 due date under Section 139(1) for individuals whose accounts do not require audit. Her Form 26AS showed tax deducted at source (TDS) of Rs 95,000, and her own arithmetic told her a refund was due. By the last week of August 2025 the money had still not reached her bank account, and the portal read "Return submitted and verification pending".

Meera's confusion is common. A return that is never e-verified is treated as though it was never filed, so the refund clock never starts. The gap between "submitted" and "processed" is where most refunds get stuck, and it almost always traces to one of four causes: a missed 30-day e-verification window, a defective return under Section 139(9), an inoperative PAN, or a refund adjusted against an old demand under Section 245.

Knowing which stage your return is sitting at tells you exactly which lever to pull. The ITR glossary entry sets out what the return itself contains; this article is about what happens after you click submit.

Statutory Answer

An ITR does not become a live document the moment you upload it. Under the first proviso to Section 139(1) read with Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Notification No. 5/2022 dated 29 July 2022, a return filed electronically must be e-verified within 30 days of transmitting the data. Verify within 30 days and the date of filing is the date you uploaded; verify late and the date of verification becomes the filing date, which can convert an on-time return into a belated one under Section 139(4).

Once e-verified, the return goes to the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) in Bengaluru for processing under Section 143(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. At this stage the system performs arithmetic checks, matches the TDS you claimed against Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement, and issues an intimation. The proviso to Section 143(1) requires that this intimation cannot be sent after the expiry of nine months from the end of the financial year in which the return was furnished, so a return filed in FY 2025-26 must ordinarily be processed by 31 December 2026.

The two official routes to check where your return sits are set out on the Income Tax Department's own help pages. Pre-login, you enter the 15-digit acknowledgement number and a valid mobile number, then authenticate with a one-time password (OTP) to view the status without signing in. Post-login, you navigate to e-File, then Income Tax Returns, then View Filed Returns, where the full return life cycle appears alongside action items such as returns pending for e-verification. From the same screen you can download the ITR-V acknowledgement, the uploaded JSON, the ITR PDF, and any intimation order.

The life cycle itself is worth reading as a sequence rather than a single label.

Two statutory blockers deserve special mention. First, under Rule 114AAA, an inoperative PAN — one not linked to Aadhaar as mandated by Section 139AA — stops any refund from being issued and stops interest from accruing for the period it stays inoperative. Second, under Section 245, the department may set off a refund against tax demand outstanding from an earlier year, but only after giving you prior intimation and an opportunity to respond.

Worked Resolution

Take Meera's numbers and run them through the new tax regime for FY 2025-26, the default regime unless she opts out. Her figures line up with what the income-tax calculator would return.

Because Meera's taxable income of Rs 13,25,000 exceeds the Rs 12,00,000 threshold, she gets no Section 87A rebate, which stands at Rs 60,000 in the new regime for AY 2025-26. Her refund of Rs 13,100 arises purely because her employer deducted more TDS than her final liability. You can sanity-check any employer deduction against the TDS calculator, and the underlying idea is defined in the tax refund glossary entry.

Now the interest. Under Section 244A(1)(a), interest on a refund arising from excess TDS runs at 0.5% per month (6% per annum) from 1 April of the assessment year to the date the refund is granted, provided the return was filed by the due date. There is a catch: the proviso withholds interest entirely if the refund is less than 10% of the tax determined under Section 143(1). Here, 10% of Rs 81,900 is Rs 8,190, and Meera's refund of Rs 13,100 clears that bar, so interest is payable.

If Meera's status had instead read "Return submitted and verification pending" past the 30-day mark, the fix is direct: e-verify through Aadhaar OTP, net-banking, or a demat-account EVC, and the clock to processing restarts. If it read "Defective return under Section 139(9)", she would have 15 days from the intimation to respond, failing which the return is treated as invalid. Deciding between regimes before you file is easier with the old-vs-new comparison, because the regime you pick fixes both your liability and your refund.

FAQ

What do the different ITR statuses on the portal actually mean?

The View Filed Returns screen shows a life cycle. "Submitted and pending for e-verification" means the 30-day CBDT Notification No. 5/2022 window is running and you must verify. "Successfully e-verified" or "verified" means the return has reached CPC. "Under processing" means Section 143(1) checks are in progress. "Processed with no demand no refund", "processed with refund due", or "processed with demand due" are the three terminal outcomes of that intimation.

How long does the department have to process my return?

Under the proviso to Section 143(1), the intimation cannot be issued after nine months from the end of the financial year in which the return was furnished. For a return filed during FY 2025-26, that outer limit is 31 December 2026. In practice, e-verified returns are frequently processed far sooner, but the nine-month figure is your statutory backstop.

My refund is showing as "failed" — why?

Refund failure is usually a bank-account problem, not a tax problem. The account must be pre-validated on the portal and the PAN must be linked to it. A PAN that has gone inoperative under Rule 114AAA for want of Aadhaar linkage will also block the refund. Re-validate the account, confirm your PAN is operative, and raise a refund reissue request from Services, then Refund Reissue on the portal.

Can the department keep my refund against an old tax demand?

Yes, but only through the Section 245 route, and only after serving you a prior intimation setting out the demand it proposes to adjust. You get an opportunity to agree or disagree online. If you do not respond within the stated period, the department may proceed with the set-off, so never ignore a Section 245 notice.

Does an inoperative PAN really stop my refund?

It does. Rule 114AAA provides that while a PAN remains inoperative, no refund shall be made and no interest shall be payable on such refund for the inoperative period. Linking PAN with Aadhaar restores operative status, after which the refund can be processed. This is separate from your ability to file — you can still file, but the money will not move.

What if I missed the filing deadline entirely?

A belated return under Section 139(4) can still be filed, generally up to 31 December of the assessment year, with late-filing consequences under Section 234F. Beyond that, relief may be available through a condonation application, which we cover in filing a return after condonation of delay under Section 119(2)(b).

Where can I verify all of this officially?

Check the Income Tax Department's e-filing help pages at incometax.gov.in for the step-by-step status-check flows, and read the bare provisions of Sections 143(1), 244A, and 245 on indiacode.nic.in. For household filers, note that an HUF is assessed separately, as explained in an HUF is a separate taxpayer with its own basic exemption.