Last-minute ITR rush overwhelms portals, millions of returns still pending

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With barely three days to go for the September 15 deadline to file income tax returns (ITRs), taxpayers are facing glitches and have taken to social media to give vent to their frustration.

Key e-filing platforms — Annual Information Statement (AIS), Form 26AS, and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS )—  have been intermittently down,  unable to service request due to higher than normal volume.

Last year, 7.28 crore ITRs were filed by July 31, 2024. This year filings have been slow. By September 11, only 5.47 crore returns were filed.

The TRACES portal has also been down since September 11, leaving many taxpayers and professionals unable to access Form 26AS, download TDS certificates, or verify tax credits.

As the pressure mount, taxpayers and professionals are flagging this glitches on social media.

"Since morning we are facing issues in importing Annual Information Statement and Tax Information Statement to our software and through Income Tax Portal www.incometax.gov.in. Our call centers and tax advisors have been receiving calls from our clients the issues they are facing and worried if tax is not filed on time what will happen," said Deepak Jain, Founder and CEO, TaxManager.

We CAs & tax professionals are working day & night to complete compliances.

But even today ➝ TRACES downtime (9PM–11PM) ⏳ makes it tougher.
Form 26AS & login unavailable at peak filing time.

How to do work?

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💻⚖️#IncomeTax #TRACES #ITR #Extend_due_date_now pic.twitter.com/bWgQc4rrec

— CA Pooja Gupta (@cagurujii) September 11, 2025

How to do work?

Multiple professional associations have written to finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, urging her to extend deadlines.

The Jodhpur Tax Bar Association has requested extensions for both ITR filing and tax audit reports, citing the late release of forms and persistent portal errors.

The Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association (KSCAA), Advocates Tax Bar Association (ATBA), and the Central India Regional Council (CIRC) of ICAI have also raised similar concerns.

#Extension_हक़_है_भीख_नहीं

Utilities आपने time से दी नहीं
Portal आपका ठीक से चला नहीं
देश के कई हिस्से बाढ़ग्रस्त हैं
फिर भी आप Due Date का extension नहीं दे रहे, क्यों?

It's a humble request, please extend the due date for both ITR and TAR.

Thanks… pic.twitter.com/zpEqYLGp7v

— Abhishek Raja "Ram" (@abhishekrajaram) September 10, 2025

The Advocates Tax Bar Association (ATBA) has specifically recommended that the non-audit ITR deadline be pushed to October 15.

"Key e-filing platforms such as the AIS , Form 26AS, and the TIS have been going down intermittently, sometimes at crucial hours of compliance. As if that were not enough, TRACES which is an essential system for TDS-related compliance was placed under scheduled maintenance as recently as last night from 9pm to 11pm, right in the middle of peak filing season. However in reality, it didn't work early morning hours of today," says Himank Singla, founding partner, SBHS and Associates, on September 12.

It claimed that the income-tax department’s e-filing system runs smoothly, he said. The system works seamlessly and without interruption when it comes to calculating and levying statutory interest under sections 234A, 234B, and 234C, or in charging late filing fees under section 234F. But when taxpayers and professionals attempt to discharge their actual compliance obligations, they are frequently met with portal glitches, repeated error messages, and intermittent downtimes, Singla said.

Why this year is different

Tax professionals say the government’s earlier relief was ineffective. Although the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extended the non-audit ITR deadline from July 31 to September 15, most utilities were released too late for taxpayers. ITR-2 and ITR-3 were released on July 11, ITR-5 was made available in August, ITR-6 and ITR-7 also came in August.

Last year, taxpayers had almost three months of preparation time, as most forms were released by early April.

“Every tax season, timely availability of return forms and utilities plays a crucial role in ensuring smooth compliance. This year, however, the narrow window left for taxpayers has created undue pressure,” Singla added.

"Another issue to be noted is that 13th Sep and 14th Sep being a weekend and holidays on top of that 13th Sep is being 2nd Saturday which is a bank holiday – if someone has a tax payable and needs to deposit cash – how will they do it. No information till yet if banks have been asked to work and facilitate tax deposits," said Jain.

Should you wait for an ITR deadline extension?

While associations are lobbying for deadline relief, experts advise taxpayers not to count on it. Filing late comes with its own set of challenges. “Last-minute filing brings real problems. The income-tax portal slows down or freezes under heavy traffic. Technical glitches such as failed verifications, Aadhaar OTP delays, or portal maintenance disruptions are common,” warned Sujit Bangar, Founder of Taxbuddy.com.