Digital technology has changed India's tax system, 474% increase in refund; Now money is being received in just 17 days

Digital technology has revolutionized India's taxation system, thanks to which tax refunds have surged by 474 percent. Sources in the Finance Ministry indicated that there was a large shift in India's taxation system over the past decade. The pace of tax refund has increased almost twice as fast as tax collection.

Sources said that between 2013-14 and 2024-25, taxpayers have received refunds, there has been a tremendous increase of 474 percent. This amount has increased from Rs 83,008 crore to Rs 4,76,743 crore.

The gross direct tax collection has risen by 24 per cent during the same period, from Rs 7,21,604 crore to Rs 27,02,974 crore. Most significantly, the time taken for the tax refund process has also decreased tremendously. In 2013, the time taken for obtaining a tax refund averaged 93 days, which has reduced to a mere 17 days in 2024. This reflects a decrease of 81 per cent, evidence that the digital modernization is a success

Behind this change is the complete digitization of tax processes. Online filing system, appointment-less assessment and automated tax refund process have eliminated the old bottlenecks that earlier caused delay in services to taxpayers.

A senior official of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said, digital technology like pre-filled returns, real-time TDS adjustment and online grievance redressal system has completely changed the way services are provided to taxpayers.

The number of taxpayers has also increased significantly. While 3.8 crore income tax returns were filed in 2013, this number has increased to 8.89 crore in 2024. This shows an increase of 133 percent. The ratio of refund has also increased significantly compared to the total tax collection. This ratio was 11.5 percent in 2013-14, which has increased to 17.6 percent in 2024-25. A senior income tax official said, this increase in refund is an indication that people are now paying tax more voluntarily and the system of advance tax payment is also getting stronger.