How do I check my ITR refund status?

By the India Law Simplified editorial team · Verified against the bare Acts & official portals · Updated 2026-08-18 · ~8 min read

⚡ Quick answer

You can check your ITR refund status in two places. On the income-tax e-filing portal (incometax.gov.in), log in and go to Services → 'Know Your Refund Status', or e-File → Income Tax Returns → View Filed Returns. Alternatively, use the NSDL/Protean refund-status page with your PAN and assessment year. The status tells you whether the refund is processed, paid, partially adjusted against a demand, or failed (most often due to an unvalidated bank account).

Track your filing free →

You've filed your return and you're owed a refund — now you just want to know where it is. Checking your ITR refund status takes a minute, and it tells you not just whether the money is on its way, but also if something is holding it up. This guide shows you exactly where to check, what each status means, and how to fix a failed refund.

1Where to check

There are two official places to check your refund status:

Income-tax portal: log in at incometax.gov.in → Services → 'Know Your Refund Status' (or e-File → Income Tax Returns → View Filed Returns)
NSDL/Protean: the refund-status page, where you enter your PAN and select the assessment year

⚠️ ImportantThe income-tax portal generally shows the most detailed, up-to-date status, including whether your return is still being processed.

2What the statuses mean

The status you see tells you exactly where things stand:

'Refund issued / paid' — the refund has been sent to your bank account
'Refund failed' — the credit didn't go through, usually because your bank account isn't pre-validated or PAN-linked
'Adjusted against outstanding demand' — your refund was set off under Section 245 against an old tax demand
'Processed with no demand no refund' — the return is processed but no refund is due
'Under processing / return submitted and verified' — still being processed; wait

3How to fix a failed refund

If your status shows 'failed', it's usually quick to fix:

Pre-validate your bank account on the portal (Profile → My Bank Account) and ensure your PAN is linked to it.
Once validated, raise a 'Refund Reissue' request under Services → Refund Reissue.
The department then re-sends the refund to the validated account.

💡 ExampleArun's status showed 'refund failed' three weeks after filing. He logged in, pre-validated his bank account (which he'd recently changed), and raised a refund-reissue request. The refund was credited to the new account within about a week — no need to refile anything.

4If it's adjusted against a demand

If your refund shows as adjusted under Section 245, it means the department set it off against an outstanding demand from a previous year. If you believe that demand is wrong, respond to it on the portal (Pending Actions → Response to Outstanding Demand) — if the demand is invalid, the adjusted refund can be released.

5Two systems, two different answers

There are two places to check, and they can legitimately disagree, which causes a good deal of confusion.

The e-filing portal shows the status of your return: whether it has been processed under section 143(1) and whether a refund has been determined. The NSDL refund-tracking service shows what happened to the payment afterwards — issued, credited, or failed at the bank.

A return can show 'processed with refund due' on the portal while the refund tracking still shows nothing, simply because the payment has not been released yet. It is only a problem when the payment shows as failed or returned.

6The timeline to expect, and when to act

Refunds now move considerably faster than they once did, but the distribution is wide.

Processing usually follows within weeks of e-verification, and the refund is typically credited within days of processing. The department has until nine months from the end of the financial year in which you filed to issue the intimation, so a return that is simply unprocessed is not yet late in any formal sense.

What is worth acting on immediately is a failed credit or a status that has not moved at all several months after e-verification.

First confirm the return was actually e-verified — an unverified return is never processed and is eventually treated as not filed
Then confirm the bank account is pre-validated and the name matches the PAN
Then check for an outstanding demand that may have absorbed the refund under section 245
Raise a grievance on the portal only after those three, since the first three explain most cases

7Re-issuing a failed refund

A failed refund is not lost. It sits with the department until you request re-issue, and there is no deadline that extinguishes it.

The request is made on the e-filing portal under the refund re-issue service. Correct the underlying cause first — pre-validate a working account, or fix the name mismatch — because a re-issue to the same failing account simply fails again.

Where PAN has become inoperative for want of Aadhaar linking, no re-issue will succeed until the linking is done.

8What each status actually means

The wording on the portal is terse and several statuses are widely misread.

Return submitted and not verified — nothing will happen until you verify; this is not a queue
Successfully e-verified — received, awaiting processing under section 143(1)
Processed with no demand no refund — accepted as filed, nothing due either way
Processed with refund due — determined, but the payment may not yet have been released
Refund failed — the credit was attempted and rejected, almost always at the bank validation stage
Processed with demand due — an adjustment was made and tax is payable; read the intimation line by line before paying

✅ TipA refund shown as issued but not received is worth checking against the bank account number in the intimation itself, which is the account the department actually used.

Key takeaways

Check refund status on incometax.gov.in (Know Your Refund Status) or the NSDL/Protean page.
'Refund issued' = on the way; 'failed' = bank account not validated; 'adjusted' = set off against an old demand.
Fix a failed refund by pre-validating your bank account and raising a Refund Reissue request.
If adjusted under Section 245, respond to the demand on the portal if you disagree.
An unverified or 'under processing' return just needs time — e-verify it if you haven't.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my refund status say 'failed'?

Most often the bank account isn't pre-validated or your PAN isn't linked to it. Pre-validate the account on the portal and raise a refund-reissue request to get it re-sent.

How do I raise a refund reissue request?

On the income-tax portal, first pre-validate your bank account (Profile → My Bank Account), then go to Services → Refund Reissue and submit a request. The refund is then re-sent to the validated account.

What does 'refund adjusted against demand' mean?

Your refund was used to offset an outstanding tax demand from an earlier year, under Section 245. If you think the demand is wrong, respond to it on the portal under 'Response to Outstanding Demand'.

How long after filing should I check my refund?

Refunds usually process within 7–30 days of e-verification. If it's been longer, check the status — and if it shows 'failed', fix your bank validation; if 'under processing', it just needs more time.

Why do the e-filing portal and the NSDL tracker show different things?

They track different stages. The portal shows whether your return has been processed and a refund determined; the NSDL service shows what happened to the payment afterwards. A refund can be determined but not yet released, which is normal, not a problem.

How long should a refund take?

Usually weeks after e-verification, and often days after processing. Formally the department has until nine months from the end of the financial year in which you filed to issue the intimation, so an unprocessed return is not late in any technical sense before then.

My return has not been processed at all — what do I check first?

That it was actually e-verified. An unverified return is never processed and is eventually treated as not filed at all. After that, check bank pre-validation, then whether an outstanding demand has absorbed the refund under section 245.

Does a failed refund expire?

No. It remains with the department until you request re-issue on the e-filing portal, and there is no deadline that extinguishes it. Fix the underlying cause first — a re-issue to the same failing account simply fails again.

My status says 'processed with no demand no refund' — what does that mean?

Your return was accepted as filed and nothing is due in either direction. It is the normal outcome where TDS matched your liability. No action is needed.

The portal says the refund was issued but I have not received it

Check the bank account number printed in the intimation itself — that is the account the department actually used, which is not always the one you expect. If it is wrong or closed, correct the account, pre-validate it and raise a refund re-issue request on the portal.

Can I check the refund status without logging in?

The NSDL refund-tracking service accepts your PAN and assessment year without a login and shows what happened to the payment. The e-filing portal, which shows whether the return has actually been processed, does require you to sign in.