ITR Processed but No Refund in Your Bank: A Checklist

Your AY 2026-27 return shows Processed, weeks have passed, and no refund has reached your bank. Once a return is processed, the refund has only a few possible fates: it was reduced to nil, set off against an old demand, sent and failed, sent and not yet credited, or held. The checklist below goes through them in the order that finds the answer fastest, and each step takes a few minutes on the portal.

This post assumes the return is already processed. If it still says Successfully e-Verified, the refund hasn't been decided yet; see how long an e-verified return can wait.

Step 1: Read the intimation for the refund CPC actually allowed

Processing ends with an intimation under section 143(1), emailed to you and downloadable from e-File > Income Tax Returns > View Filed Returns. It puts your figures and CPC's (the Centralised Processing Centre's) side by side. The last lines show the refund CPC determined, which may be lower than what you claimed, or nil.

Example. Kavya claimed a refund of ₹18,500 for AY 2026-27. Her intimation shows, in simplified form:

CPC allowed no credit for the FD TDS because it wasn't in her Form 26AS; the bank had filed its TDS statement under a wrong PAN. So ₹12,000 is the refund to look for, not ₹18,500. Once the bank corrects its TDS statement, Kavya can file a rectification for the rest; see rectification or revised return.

If the intimation shows a demand or "no demand, no refund", there is no refund to chase. How to read your 143(1) intimation goes through every line.

Step 2: Check the refund status on the portal

On the same View Filed Returns page, open View Details for the year. The portal's Refund Status user manual describes four outcomes:

• Refund issued: go to step 5.
• Refund partially adjusted or fully adjusted: go to step 3.
• Refund failed: go to step 4.

The exact wording on screen can differ from these labels and changes from time to time. What each outcome means is explained in every refund status message. Don't rely on Protean's refund page for this year: it directs refunds paid after 31 March 2023 to the e-Filing portal.

Step 3: If the refund was adjusted against an old demand

Under section 245 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, CPC can set your refund off against tax it says you owe for another year, after telling you in writing. A partial adjustment means only the balance was paid; a full adjustment means nothing will reach your bank.

1. Go to Pending Actions > Response to Outstanding Demand and find the demand it was set against.
2. If the demand is right, nothing more is due on this refund.
3. If it is wrong (often tax that was paid but not credited), respond to the demand and fix the record with a rectification. Refund adjusted against an old demand covers the steps.

Step 4: If the refund failed

The manual lists why a refund fails. Work down this list:

Only savings, current, cash credit, overdraft and NRO accounts can be pre-validated for refunds, and validation takes up to 10 to 12 working days. Once the account shows Validated and is nominated for refund, raise a reissue request under Services > Refund Reissue > Create Refund Reissue Request, choose the account and e-verify. Keep the Transaction ID it gives you. The request's progress appears under View Refund Reissue Request.

Step 5: If the refund was issued but isn't in your account

1. Check which account it went to. If you have several validated accounts nominated for refund, it may have gone to one you don't watch. Check every nominated account under My Bank Account.
2. Search the statement properly. The credit's description may not say "income tax" plainly, so search by amount and date as well. The amount includes any interest under section 244A, so it may not match your claim exactly. See refund interest under section 437 (formerly 244A).
3. Allow a few working days after the status changes before treating the money as missing.
4. Ask your bank with the date and amount if the portal shows the refund as issued to your account and nothing has arrived after that.

Step 6: If none of the above fits

• An SMS says the refund is on hold for risk management. That is a separate review with its own response; see the "refund on hold under risk management" SMS.
• Nothing on the portal explains it. Raise a grievance on e-Nivaran with the acknowledgement number, the date the return was processed and what the refund status shows. See e-Nivaran done right.

AY 2026-27 refunds, adjustments and grievances all run under the Income-tax Act, 1961, even though the Income-tax Act, 2025 applies from 1 April 2026. Under the new Act, refund interest is in section 437; it applies to later tax years.

Checking refunds for the whole family

myutils.me is an independent app that signs in to the portal for each PAN you add and shows each return's status and the refund details the portal holds, including the account and bank reference. It refreshes when you add a PAN or press Sync, and fetches the intimation from the portal when you download it.

FAQ

My ITR is processed with refund. When will I get the money?

The portal's refund guide says refunds usually reach the account 4 to 5 weeks after e-verification. After processing, check the refund status under View Details: if it says issued, look in every account nominated for refund; if it says failed or adjusted, follow steps 3 and 4 above.

Why is my refund smaller than I claimed?

CPC allowed less, usually because TDS you claimed isn't in Form 26AS or a deduction wasn't accepted, or part of the refund was set off against an old demand. The intimation and the refund status show which.

What should I do if my refund failed?

Fix the cause (PAN–Aadhaar link, bank validation, name, IFSC or closed account), then raise a request under Services > Refund Reissue on the portal and e-verify it.

Can I change the bank account after the refund was issued?

Only if the refund fails. A refund that was credited successfully can't be redirected. Validate the new account and raise a reissue request if the first credit fails.

Sources

• Refund Status user manual, Income Tax e-Filing portal
• Refund Reissue user manual, Income Tax e-Filing portal
• My Bank Account FAQs, Income Tax e-Filing portal
• Know your ITR Status FAQs, Income Tax e-Filing portal
• Refund tracking home, Tax Information Network (Protean)