on 2nd July 2022 Income tax department Taking to its official Twitter handle, it said that due to erratic traffic, taxpayers are finding it difficult to access the e-filing website of the Income Tax Department (ie the new e-filing portal launched last year). As per the tweet, “It has been observed that taxpayers are facing problems in accessing the ITD e-filing portal. As informed by @Infosys, they have noticed some irregular traffic on the portal for which proactive measures are taken.” Some users may be inconvenienced, which is sorry.”
So, this year also taxpayers have complained about the issues of the e-filing portal, what are the chances of the government extending the ITR filing deadline this year? Furthermore, tax experts say very few taxpayers have filed their tax returns so far, and most (more than 6 crore taxpayers) have yet to do so, as ex-IRS officers at TaxBuddy.com and Founder Sujit Bangar has said.
ET Wealth Online contacted tax experts to find out whether the deadline for filing income tax returns will be extended this fiscal. Here’s what he had to say.
Sujit Bangar, former IRS officer and founder of TaxBuddy.com – an ITR filing website: As per the data published by the Income Tax Department, only 30 lakh ITRs have been filed in the first seven days of the month of July. The cumulative number of filings as on 7 July is 99 lakh. Around 6.5 crore ITRs are yet to be filed. It seems very challenging considering there are less than 22 days left before the due date. In the last two years, the due date for filing ITR has been continuously extended by the Income Tax Department. Due to this, many taxpayers are not yet completely convinced about the fact that the due date for filing ITR will not be extended, and they will have to file before July 31. A small extension by August 31 should be considered by the tax department. This will help many taxpayers to file their tax returns.
Akanksha Goel, Direct Tax Partner, TR Chadha & Co LLP: The Income Tax Department has recently tweeted about slowing down of the website due to erratic traffic on the portal. This has raised hope for many tax filers, if it reflects the intention of the tax department to extend the due date for filing ITR. Though it is a bit unfortunate that even after more than a year of the launch of a new website, it is not able to handle the traffic on the portal, however, looking at it positively, it may be due to efforts by more assessees. could. File ITR early and don’t wait for the last date. Considering the ITR forms and utilities were issued long back, an extension may not be required this year. However, if the portal slows down and taxpayers are not able to do the required filings, the CBDT may have to consider extending the due date to enable compliance.
Dr. Suresh Surana, Founder, RSM India – A Tax Consultancy Firm: The tweet of July 2, 2022 by the Income Tax Department regarding problems faced by taxpayers in accessing the Income Tax Portal (due to erratic traffic) comes soon after the new Income Tax e-filing portal completed its first year. On the launch of the new tax portal, many users complained of facing technical glitches. These include not being able to log in to their accounts, inability to view old ITR data etc. However, it is worth mentioning that the tweet neither contains any specific information regarding extension of due date of July 2022 for the taxpayer nor has CBDT rolled out any. Official circular / notification regarding the same. In addition, filing of tax returns beyond July 31 (unless extended) may lead to penal consequences such as additional interest liability under section 234A of the Income Tax Act and late fee under section 234F of the Income Tax Act. In addition, the taxpayer may face certain restrictions on adjustment and carry forward of losses. Keeping this in mind, every taxpayer must commit to file their tax return before July 31. Also, keeping in view the irregular traffic on the portal, it is recommended that taxpayers should not wait for the last date to file their tax returns. Moreover, the functioning of the new income tax portal has been streamlined considerably and it seems, even if the CBDT extends the due date, it may be only a small extension.
Rahul Charkha, Partner, Economic Law Practice – A Law Firm: While the Income Tax Department’s recent tweet acknowledged the glitches in the Income Tax portal, this by itself may not indicate an extension in the deadline for filing income tax returns. The new income tax portal has been under criticism for some time now. The finance ministry had put out data regarding the smooth functioning of the new portal, however, its efficacy needs to be tested in the normal operating scenario. The returns uploaded earlier were during the COVID period and were staggered due to the deferred deadline. The faceless assessment is expected to put some extra pressure on the system and put in traffic. The Income Tax Department, while deciding on the extension, should consider the challenges faced by taxpayers including technical glitches, erratic functioning of the portal, delayed release of utilities and rising COVID-19 cases.