The deadline to file Income Tax returns (ITR) for the 2021-2022 assessment year has been extended to December 31, 2021, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) announced on Thursday, September 9. The CBDT cited difficulties in filing the returns on the new portal, built by digital services and consulting company, Infosys. Earlier, the deadline was September 30.
The new e-filing portal, www.incometax.gov.in, was launched on June 7. It had a bumpy start since the day of its launch with taxpayers and professionals reporting glitches and difficulties.
In 2019, Infosys was given the contract to develop the portal.
The CBDT has also extended the deadline to furnish the Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2021-22, to December 31, 2021. The due date for furnishing the report of audit for 2020-21 has been extended to January 15.
“The due date of furnishing Report from an Accountant by persons entering into an international transaction or specified domestic transaction under section 92E of the Act for the Previous Year 2020-21, which is 31 October 2021, as extended to 30 November 2021 vide Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to 31 January 2022,” the CBDT said in a statement.
The Income Tax department, on Wednesday, September 8, said a number of technical issues on the new ITR portal are being progressively addressed and 1.19 crore ITRs for the 2020-21 fiscal year have been filed.
The I-T department had said that over 8.83 crore unique taxpayers have logged into the portal till September 7, 2021, with a daily average of over 15.55 lakh in September. The Income Tax Return (ITR) filing has increased to 3.2 lakh daily in September 2021.
"A number of technical issues are being progressively addressed and there has been a positive trend reflected in the statistics of the various filings on the portal. A total of 1.19 crore ITRs for AY 2021-22 have been filed. "Of these, over 76.2 lakh taxpayers have used the online utility of the portal to file the returns," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.
"It is reiterated that the Department is continuously engaged with Infosys to ensure a smooth filing experience to taxpayers," the CBDT added.
On August 23, the Finance Ministry had "summoned" Infosys CEO Salil Parekh to explain why issues continued to plague the portal developed by the software major. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in the meeting with Parekh, expressed "deep disappointment" over glitches persisting for more than two months after the launch and gave him time till September 15 to resolve all issues.
Between January 2019 and June 2021, the government has paid Rs 164.5 crore to Infosys for developing the portal.
(With input from PTI)