The Income Tax Return (ITR) filing deadline is here, and near 1 crore returns are expected to be filed on the final day. Last year, the e-filing portal handled record activity, processing nearly 70 lakh returns in just 24 hours — its highest ever. This year, a last-minute surge has left taxpayers and professionals racing against time, with many reporting portal slowdowns.
So far, 6.29 crore returns have been filed for AY 2025–26 (till September 13, 2025), against 7.28 crore returns filed in total for AY 2024–25. Last year, ITR filings grew 7.5% year-on-year, and assuming a similar pace, the number could touch 7.8 crore this year. The growth trend has been steady — 6.77 crore returns were filed in AY 2023–24, 5.82 crore in AY 2022–23, and 5.77 crore in AY 2021–22. Overall, ITR filings have risen by more than 25% between AY 2022–23 and AY 2024–25, reflecting improved compliance and a widening tax base.
The extended deadline for filing ITRs for financial year 2024–25 (AY 2025–26) ends on September 15, after having been pushed from the original July 31 due date. But as the clock ticks down, taxpayers are finding themselves caught between two parallel challenges: slowdown of the income-tax e-filing portal and the deadline for paying the second installment of advance tax, which also falls on September 15.
A senior official from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity that the portal is stable. “The glitches are mostly due to browser-related issues at the user’s end. The system is functioning and handling high volumes smoothly,” the official said.
Despite this assurance, many tax practitioners posted over social media that the problems are real and adding to the last-minute stress of lakhs of taxpayers.
What has compounded matters further is the convergence of multiple tax deadlines this month. Alongside ITR filing, taxpayers also need to pay the second installment of advance tax by September 15. “This bunching up of deadlines is overwhelming. Even if the portal was working perfectly, taxpayers and professionals would still be stretched thin. Add in the glitches, and it becomes very difficult to meet compliance requirements,” said chartered accountant Nitesh Buddhdev, Founder, Nimit Consultancy.
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