Sep 15 deadline: I-T portal continues to face glitches

New Delhi: The new income-tax e-filing portal, which was unveiled with much fanfare, is not completely glitch-free even as the deadline set by the government for Infosys to fix the problems expired on Wednesday.

Tax experts, who use the portal for various functions, said the website continues to face multiple glitches. Even after over three months of the portal's launch, users are unable to submit rectification for returns filed, check refund status and file refund reissue request. They are also unable to see ITRs filed prior to Assessment Year (AY) 2013-14. 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 its functioning.

In a statement on September 8, the income tax department had said a number of technical issues on the portal are being progressively addressed and 1.19 crore ITRs for 2020-21 fiscal year have been filed. Giving updates of activities carried out by taxpayers on the portal, the I-T department said over 8.83 crore unique taxpayers have logged in to the portal till September 7, 2021 with a daily average of over 15.55 lakh in September 2021. The finance ministry has already extended the due date of filing tax returns and related forms for all taxpayers. It has also relaxed the requirement for compulsory usage of digital signatures in certain cases. Infosys was in 2019 given the contract to develop the portal. The finance ministry had on August 23 "summoned" Infosys CEO Salil Parekh to explain why issues continued to plague the portal. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in the meeting with Parekh, expressed "deep disappointment" over persisting glitches and gave him time till September 15 to resolve all the issues.