How to Track GST Refund on GST and PFMS Portal?

We are living in a world where everything became online these days. There are no long lines in government offices. To be an instance, everything becomes much easier. One can apply for a new bank account and, one can do anything related to bank transactions online itself. It is a part of digital India though.

Let me come to the main part. Today’s article is all related to the convenience of the internet and how one can track the GST Refund application on the GST and PFMS Portal online. We will also explain in-depth about the PFMS portal and the steps associated with it.

What is PFMS?

PFMS stands for Public Financial Management System. It was earlier known as Central Plan Schemes Monitoring System. It has been developed by the Office of Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance. To be an instance, It is web-based online software.

The main objective of PFMS is tracking funds released under the plans or schemes of the government and real-time tracking of all the expenses made by the government through various schemes in India. This program was initially started in 2009 as the Central Plan Schemes Monitoring System (CPSMS)

In 2013, the scope was changed and it was ordered to track the direct expenses to the beneficiaries. It will be under both plan and non-plan expenditure.

One of the primary objectives of the Public Financial Management System is to facilitate a better flow system for the government of India by the efficiency of the fund flow and accounting system.

This program provides stakeholders various schemes and real-time management and also an effective support system as a support to the Digital India initiative.

How to Track GST Refund on GST and PFMS Portal?

To track the GST Refund application. There are some points that you should read before proceeding with any of the given steps. Let’s have a look.

• The new GST Portal is now available for the TaxPayers/Tax Officers. One can track the GST Refund application status by using the GST Portal and its functionality. One can know the quick status of their application and, get to know in which stage the application is pending with the department.
• The payment order can be only issued by a tax officer after the PFMS (Public Financial Management System) has validated the bank account mentioned in the refund application (RFD-01). Similarly, the final amount will only get sanctioned by the tax officer after the validation of the bank account by PFMS (Public Financial Management System) mentioned in the order (RFD-05). Thus, the validation of bank accounts proceeds in two stages. To be precise, the exact details of the bank account validation is not available to check on the GST portal.
• It has been easier these days. The PFMS (Public Financial Management System) of the Controller General of Accounts has made a central portal to make it available for the taxpayers to check the status of their bank validation online. One can visit the official portal of PFMS and can check the bank account validation status over there.
• The advisory and manuals both are issued for the people to make them aware of both the portals.

Tracking GST Refund application on GST and PFMS Portal (Stage A)

The Indian government has now made it available for both taxpayers and tax officers the new functionality for checking out the status of the GST Refund application on the GST portal and the bank account validation status and the refund amount of disbursal on PFMS (Public Financial Management System).

This advisory is being issued for the benefit of taxpayers to make them aware of these portals.

The refund process of GST consists of two parts. (Stage B)

• The process of the refund application by the tax officer.
• Bank account validation by the PFMS (Public Financial Management System) in two stages:

1. (RFD-01) This process is after filling the refund application by the taxpayer.
2. (RFD-05) This process is after the issuance of the payment order by the tax officer.

The above-mentioned stage a and stage b are the interlinking process of the GST refund application by the tax officer. The payment of refund can be only issued by the tax officer after the validation of the bank account by PFMS (Public Financial Management System) (RFD-01). 

Similarly, the final refund amount of disbursement can be only issued after the PFMS (Public Financial Management System) validated the bank account in section one (RFD-05). Therefore, the validation of the bank account takes place in two stages.

The Taxpayers can track the status of their GST Refund application on:

• With the GST Portal. It is for getting the exact information for the amount and in which process it is pending.
• With the PFMS Portal. It is for knowing the status of bank account validation. It is necessary because the tax officer cannot issue the refund amount before the bank account validation.

Tracking the status of GST Refund application on GST Portal:

To track the status of the GST Refund application. One needs to follow the steps that we had mentioned below.

• First, visit the official website of the GST portal and get yourself logged in to the dashboard.

• To track the submitted application one needs to navigate to the menu and find the services>refunds>track application status option. Just click on it.

• The next screen will get displayed on your screen consisting of the track application page.
• After that, select the filling year or fill the ARN number in the box displayed on your screen, and then click on the search button.

• The search results related to your GST refund application will get displayed on your screen. You can use the scroll option to find the proper details.

• There you will get to know about the payment advance status.
• That’s it.

Tracking the status of Bank account validation on the PFMS Portal:

Once the taxpayer file the refund application in the form RFD-01, the PFMS (Public Financial Management System) validates the bank account before proceeding with the refund. To be an instance, the payment can be only issued by the tax officer after the successful bank account validation by PFMS.

Once the RFD-05 is issued, PFMS again validates the bank account mentioned in the payment order, and this will be the final validation. To track the status of bank account validation, you can follow the steps that we had given below.

• First, you need to visit the official website tracking page of PFMS. You can visit by clicking here https://pfms.nic.in/static/NewLayoutCommonContent.aspx?RequestPagename=Static/GSTN_Tracker.aspx

• To check the status of your bank account validation after filing the RFD-01 form. You need to click on the GST Registered option mentioned above in the form.

• Later, you need to fill in the GST number or account and then click on view report.
• The status will get displayed on your screen.
• On the other hand, if you want to check the status of bank account validation after the tax officer has issued the RFD-05 payment order. You need to select the “GST Successfully processed” option, and enter the GSTIN number, and then click on view report.

• If you do not find the report under the GST Successfully processed, then it means the validation has been failed. You can select the “GST Under Process” option to get another report for validation.

Note: If the error in bank account validation is due to any system error. There is no need to worry, the GST system will correct it automatically and again send it to the PFMS for the re-validation. However, if there is an error related to failed transfers or incorrect bank account details then the individual needs to update the records in the portal.

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Frequently asked questions

Some questions have been repeatedly asked to us. Therefore, we have decided to answer them all in one single place.

What is PFMS?

PFMS (Public Financial Management System) is the web-based online software. The main objective of PFMS is to track the funds released under the plans or schemes of the government and real-time tracking of all the expenses made by the government through various schemes in India.

Why does bank account validation be essential?

To ensure the funds and refunds should get transferred to the right individual taxpayer account. Therefore, the bank account validation takes place in PFMS. It is essential before proceeding with any GST Refunds.

What is the process of getting a GST Refund?

It is a bit lengthy process. Once the individual has done filing the GST Refund application. It gets processed by the Tax Officer under the RFD-01. The Tax Officer is only allowed to initiate a refund after the successful bank account validation by PFMS. The bank account validation consists of two stages (RFD-01 and RFD-05)

How to check the status of the GST Refund Application?

It is a quick process. You only need to visit the official GST portal website, and there you will have to put all the required details to search the refund application. To be an instance, you can also follow the steps that we had given above for quick tracking.

How to check the status of bank account validation?

It is a quick process. You only need to visit the official PFMS portal website, and there you need to select the GST options based on the application results. Just put in your GSTIN, and click on the view results button. The results will automatically get displayed on your screen. You can also follow the steps for checking the status of bank account validation at the PFMS portal that we had mentioned above.

Are there any charges?

No, you can check the status of your GST Refund application at no extra cost.

Conclusion

Here we come at the end. This article is solely related to the PFMS portal and checking our status of the GST refund application. In this article, we have added all the appropriate details that you need to know for checking the status of your refund application. If there is anything that is not understandable then feel free to comment it down below. We would be happy to help you.