With the July 31 deadline for filing income tax returns rapidly approaching, taxpayers across the country are in a rush to complete their filings.
The Income Tax Department’s website shows that 3.58 crore ITRs have been filed as of July 19, marking an 11% increase compared to the same period last year.
However, many taxpayers are facing difficulties due to persistent glitches in the ITR filing process.
ITR filing glitches
Several users have reported problems logging into the Income Tax website, including slow page loading, upload failures, non-responsive pages, and issues with Aadhaar-based OTP verification.
In addition, taxpayers have reported several issues, including difficulty accessing Form 26AS, AIS, and TIS due to portal glitches, as well as discrepancies between the figures in TIS and AIS.
These technical difficulties have been ongoing for nearly a month, causing frustration and delays.
Joint income is being reported on the statements of both joint account holders, leading to scrutiny notices despite timely notifications from taxpayers.
Additionally, the AIS/TIS portal provides a limited set of response options, which may not always accurately capture specific situations. Many taxpayers are frustrated as updates to their responses in TIS often do not appear promptly.
Continuous buffering and other technical issues are obstructing taxpayers’ ability to complete form submissions.
There are also discrepancies where pre-filled data in the ITR, such as salary, interest income, and TDS figures, do not align with the data in Form 26AS.
Taxpayers with business income are struggling with the accurate reflection of dividend income in Schedule OS. The current utility requires the income to be first reflected in business income and then reduced, complicating the process.
Error messages frequently appear when taxpayers attempt to file their returns, resulting in delays and difficulties with successful submission.
There have also been instances where the One Time Password (OTP) required for authentication is either not received promptly or not received at all, leading to failed attempts to verify and submit returns. Additionally, some taxpayers are unable to download acknowledgements of filed ITRs, which are crucial for confirming their compliance.
No word on July 31 deadline extension
Various chartered accountant associations have reached out to the tax department, highlighting the difficulties that taxpayers and professionals are encountering with the e-filing ITR portal.
Given these technical and procedural hurdles, there is a growing demand from both taxpayers and tax professionals to extend the ITR filing deadline.
Despite these issues, the tax department has not yet indicated any plans to extend the deadline beyond July 31.
Experts suggest that the likelihood of an extension is low, citing the government’s decision not to extend the deadline last year and the complications that arise from creating a backlog in the filing process.
Source Agencies
