Deadline For Filing FY21 ITR Returns Likely To Get Extended; Here’s Why

New Delhi: The last date for filing income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2020-21 could be extended beyond the current deadline of September 30 owing to multiple glitches faced by taxpayers while filing the yearly return via the new income tax website www.incometax.gov.in. Various users took to social media platforms to express their difficulties while using new the income tax portal, News18 reported quoting Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

On June 7, the Income Tax department had unveiled a new tax e-filing portal to make ITR filing smooth and hassle-free. From pre-filled income tax return forms to quick refunds — the new portal has tons of new features to provide a “modern and seamless experience to taxpayers”. However, there have been several technical issues since its inception. Erroneous report to longer time to file an income tax return, taxpayers and tax professionals had faced many issues on the new portal, according to reports.

Here is one of the glitches. The acknowledgement generated from the portal post filing the ITR had a watermark on it for few days which showed that the ITR was still not filed.

Considering the hassle faced by the taxpayers, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to meet Infosys managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) Salil Parekh today to discuss the technical glitches on the income tax portal that is yet to be resolved, the report added.

“Ministry of Finance has summoned Salil Parekh, MD&CEO @Infosys on 23/08/2021 to explain to hon’ble FM as to why even after 2.5 months since launch of new e-filing portal, glitches in the portal have not been resolved. In fact,since 21/08/2021 the portal itself is not available,” Income Tax Department said in a tweet on Sunday. Later in the evening, Infosys informed that the new income tax portal had started working.