Income Tax Return Filing: Calls for extending deadline grow louder as glitches continue on I-T portal

As only two weeks are left before the deadline to file income tax return (ITR) expires on July 31, taxpayers continue to face glitches on the I-T website.

As a result of these glitches, a number of taxpayers are requesting the income tax department on social media for the extension of the deadline.

One user, Doli Sanghvi wrote, (Income Tax) “Site is not working, also resolve issue of rebate in case of capital gain … only few days left and no proper improvement in site and no clarification on rebate.”

Kindly work on site performance…site is not working also resolve issue of rebate in case of capital gain … only few days left and no proper improvement in site and no clarification on rebate … only notices getting served timely… geneiune tax payers are fed up of all this..

— Doli Sanghvi (@dolisanghvi) July 17, 2024

Another user wrote: “Today is a good day to extend due date. Portal glitches.”

The income tax department replied to this user: “May we request you to share your details (along with PAN & your mobile no.) with us at [email protected] so that our team can get in touch with you.”

“Section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act provides for the statutory timeline of July 31, 2024 for filing of returns of income for the assessment year 2024-25. However, while the deadline is near, a number of taxpayers are facing the following problems while filing income tax returns,” says CA Paras Gangwar, Founder of ThetaVega Capital.

1. Difficulty in accessing form 26AS/AIS/TIS and discrepancy between figures in the statements,

2. Limited response options in AIS/TIS,

3. Delayed update of responses in TIS,

4. Technical flitches on the Income-tax e-filing Portal,

5. Mismatch in pre-filled data,

6. Error messages during ITR filing,

7. Non-receipt of OTPs for authentication and difficulty in downloading filed ITR Receipts, among others.

“The tax department should address the issue on a priority basis or extend the due date for 10-15 days to avoid harassment of taxpayers,” he adds.

Rebate under section 87A

Some taxpayers and chartered accountants are complaining that ITR utility is not allowing rebates under section 87A in the New Tax Regime.

“Currently on the income tax portal, we are facing an issue where ITR utility is not allowing rebates u/s 87A in the New Tax Regime on STCG u/s 111A and special income. This started to happen after July 5. I am not sure if it is a glitch or interpretation issue. We have no clarification so far from the IT department,” says CA Pratibha Goyal, partner, P D Gupta and company.

Deepak Aggarwal, another Delhi-based chartered accountant, said the portal is now working fine unlike the problems he faced in the first week.