ITR filing deadline: Tax payers complain of glitches on portal. 'Takes ages to load, unable to send OTP'

Filing belated income tax returns attracts a penalty and the taxpayer may lose certain benefits, such as the ability to carry forward losses.

July 31 marks the deadline for filing Income Tax Return (ITR) for the financial year 2023-24 and since the government has not yet declared an extension, there is a massive rush to file the returns on Wednesday. But, one problem that most tax payers and chartered accountants have been complaining of is the efficacy of the income tax portal.

As #IncomeTaxReturns trends on X, users have been sharing photos and videos of the portal taking a long time to load, thus delaying the returns filing process and often leading to a session time out.

Very good @IncomeTaxIndia finds ways to waste time and to increase tax collection through late fees. #incometaxwebsite #IncomeTaxReturns #aadharotpissue pic.twitter.com/x8YGGrFIoh

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— Shrikant Koli (@Shrikant111988) July 31, 2024

Income tax site down #incometaxwebsite #IncomeTaxReturns #incometaxfiling pic.twitter.com/jQ8HUrGe5w

— NaradNews (@CA_Ravi_Dhanraj) July 31, 2024

The consequences of not adhering to the July 31 deadline can be severe. Besides late-filing fees, interest and penalties, tax payers could also miss out on the opportunity to claim deductions under the old tax regime. Amid such technical difficulties, there have been calls for an extension so that people who have indeed tried to file their returns within the deadline are not penalised.

After filling 9 times all the the the errors remains rhe same... Website is piece of Shit ...#IncomeTaxReturns pic.twitter.com/bFLorjwWgY

— Abhishek Gupta (@iamcaabhishekg) July 31, 2024

#incometaxwebsite #incometaxfiling #IncomeTaxSiteIssues #Incometax_site_not_working #IncomeTaxReturns pic.twitter.com/CS9nLS8v4d

— Shailendra Kumar (@Kumarshaili) July 30, 2024

For returns filed after the due date, tax payers will not only have to pay additional interest on due taxes but also a late filing fee. “Taxpayer would be additionally liable to pay late fees of Rs 5,000 under Section 234F if the return is furnished after the due date specified under Section 139(1). However, if the total income of the person does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, then such late filing fee shall be restricted to Rs 1,000,” said Suresh Surana, a practicing chartered accountant.

Moreover, those who miss the deadline can still file a belated return. This can be filed up to three months before the end of the relevant assessment year, that is until December 31, 2024. This, however, attracts a penalty, and the taxpayer may lose certain benefits, such as the ability to carry forward losses.