ITR filing: 5 crore ITRs filed till July 26 despite e-filing snags, website downtime

ITR filing: The Income Tax department has informed that more than 5 crore ITRs had been filed by July 26, 2024, which is more than 8.5% more than the last year. It is to be noted that the last date to file your income tax returns

"We express our gratitude to the taxpayers & tax professionals for helping us reach the milestone of 5 crore Income Tax Returns (ITRs). Over 5 crore ITRs for AY 2024-25 have already been filed till 26th of July this year as compared to 27th of July last year. We urge all those who haven't filed ITR for AY 2024-25, to file their ITR at the earliest to avoid last minute rush," I-T department posted on social media platform X (previously Twitter).

The Income Tax (I-T) department recently announced that the deadline for filing Income Tax returns, which falls on July 31, is unlikely to be extended. This decision comes despite various reports of glitches and downtimes on the I-T portal. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has taken steps to address these issues by enhancing the back-end capacity of the portal to better handle the increased workload observed this year.

The department issued a warning about fake news related to the deadline of ITR returns. The department stated that a clipping of the news which is being circulated on social media, and claims that the date for e-filing of ITR has been extended to August 31, is fake. 

“It has come to our knowledge that a clipping of Sandesh news is circulating on social media regarding extension of date of e-filing of ITR. This is FAKE news. Taxpayers are advised to follow updates from the official website/portal of IncomeTaxIndia," I-T Department wrote on X.

The tax department issued a notice to inform taxpayers about a fraudulent scheme targeting individuals awaiting income tax refunds. The department emphasized that scammers are exploiting the expectation of tax refunds to deceive taxpayers into revealing sensitive information, thereby gaining unauthorized access to their bank accounts. Taxpayers are advised to exercise caution and remain vigilant to avoid falling victim to this deceptive tactic.

Many individuals who filed taxes online wrote on social media platforms that they have faced serious problems while filing their tax returns. Numerous taxpayers asked the I-T department to provide them resolutions.

Ravi Agarwal, Chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), said: "We are engaging closely with our service providers Infosys, IBM and Hitachi, who are on the job. The volumes are high and the compliance is also good... I have been assured that the website will function properly".

In a separate interview, Agarwal said the issues like delayed generation of TDS and Form 16 certificates, slow I-T portal have now been resolved.

“Even per-hour filings are now at an all-time high. So therefore, I think we can say with confidence that over the next six days, we should be able to take care of it. Most of the problems have been addressed and sorted out," Agarwal said. 

“There has been a 15% growth in TDS transactions and about 30% growth in third-party transactions, and that has to get populated in the pre-filled I-T forms and the corresponding TDS certificates also have to be issued. Now, what happened was that because of elections, the deductors from the government side were engaged in the election duty… so all that got delayed, and then all of a sudden, we got that filing in bulk as far as TDS statements are concerned,” he added.