Income tax refund

Have you discussed the issue with the CA?

Because the deceased person's bank account has already been closed, any refund issued directly to their old account will fail and bounce back to the Income Tax Department.

If the ITR hasn’t been filed yet: File the income tax return while logged in as the Legal Heir. During the process, you will be prompted to provide a bank account for the refund. You can provide your own pre-validated bank account details.

If the ITR was already filed and the refund failed: Go to Services > Refund Reissue > Create Refund Reissue Request. Select the failed refund record, enter the deceased’s PAN, verify the Assessment Year, and select your own pre-validated bank account to receive the credit.

The bank account chosen to receive the money must be pre-validated on the e-filing portal under the Legal Heir's profile, and the Legal Heir's PAN must be linked to their Aadhaar card for the electronic verification (EVC) to successfully clear.

If multiple legal heirs exist, it is standard practice to keep a signed No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the other heirs in your records, stating they have no objection to the refund being credited to your bank account.

Refund of income tax shall be credited in the account of assessee.

Is it true that the pensioner is expired last month and his account stands closed without debit/credit of balance ? Recheck with his (assessee's) CA ?

Thanks a lot Mr.Kalaiselvan for your detailed clarification to the query I had asked for. Very useful and informative indeed.

 God bless you all.

Obtain succession certificate of lrs of deceased as per law in competent court of law and submit it for refund.

You are welcome for your appreciations.

Where a septuagenarian Central Government pensioner has expired and the bank account into which the income tax refund was to be credited has been closed, the legal heirs or the duly authorized representative should first inform the Income Tax Department of the death of the assessee and register themselves as the legal representative on the Income Tax e-filing portal, if required. Thereafter, they should ensure that any pending income tax return has been duly filed or revised, if necessary, and request that the refund be processed in accordance with law. If the refund has not yet been credited because the original bank account has been closed, the legal representative may update the bank account details, where permissible, or approach the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer with the death certificate, legal heir certificate/surviving member certificate or other proof of legal heirship, PAN details, and supporting documents to facilitate release of the refund. If the refund has already failed due to closure of the bank account, a request for refund reissue may be made after validating a bank account of the legal heir or the estate, subject to the Income Tax Department's procedural requirements. In case of any dispute among the legal heirs or if the Department insists on proof of entitlement, succession documents such as a succession certificate, letters of administration, or other appropriate legal authority may be required depending upon the facts of the case. Thus, the closure of the deceased's bank account does not extinguish the right to receive the income tax refund, which remains part of the deceased's estate and is payable to the lawful legal heir(s) or legal representative(s) upon compliance with the prescribed legal and procedural requirements.