The Government has extended the due date of filing ITR for Assessment Year 2021-22 for individuals till December 31.
According to CBDT press release, "The due date of furnishing of Return of Income for the Assessment year 2021-22, which was 31st July, 2021 under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act, as extended to 30th September, 2021 vide Circular No 9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to 31st December, 2021."
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) also extended the ITR filing deadline for companies till January 31, 2022.
Earlier in May 2021, the government had extended the due date of filing income tax returns for 2020-21 for individuals by two months till September 30.
"On consideration of difficulties reported by the taxpayers and other stakeholders in filing of Income Tax Returns and various reports of audit for the Assessment Year 2021-22 under the Income-tax Act, 1961, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has decided to further extend the due dates for filing of Income Tax Returns and various reports of audit for the Assessment Year 2021-22," the finance ministry said in a statement.
The due date for filing the tax audit report and transfer pricing certificate has been extended to January 15, 2022 and January 31, 2022, respectively, from the existing deadline of October 31 and November 30, respectively.
For filing belated or revised return of income, the last date has been extended by another two months to March 31, 2022.
With regard to resolution of glitches in the tax portal, the finance ministry on Wednesday said it is continuously engaging with Infosys to ensure a smooth filing experience for taxpayers.
On April 1, the CBDT notified the forms for filing I-T returns for 2020-21 fiscal.
For the 2020-21 fiscal, the government had given taxpayers the option to choose a new tax regime under section 115BAC of the I-T Act.
As per the income tax law, for individuals whose accounts are not required to be audited and who usually file their income tax return using ITR-1 or ITR-4 forms the deadline to file ITR is July 31. The deadline for taxpayers, like companies or firms, whose accounts are required to be audited is October 31.
In a circular, the CBDT said an extension of time limits is being given for certain tax compliances “to provide relief to taxpayers in view of the severe pandemic”.
Technical glitches on ITR portal
The income tax department on Wednesday said a number of technical issues on the new ITR portal are being progressively addressed and 1.19 crore ITRs for 2020-21 fiscal year have been filed so far.
Giving updates of activities carried out by taxpayers on the portal, the I-T department said over 8.83 crore unique taxpayers have logged into the portal till September 7, 2021 with a daily average of over 15.55 lakh in September.
The Income Tax Return (ITR) filing has increased to 3.2 lakh daily in September 2021.
"A number of technical issues are being progressively addressed and there has been a positive trend reflected in the statistics of the various filings on the portal.... 1.19 crore ITRs for AY 2021-22 have been filed.
"Of these, over 76.2 lakh taxpayers have used the online utility of the portal to file the returns," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.
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.
"The Ministry of Finance has been regularly monitoring the resolution of issues with Infosys Ltd," the statement added.
Infosys was in 2019 given the contract to develop the portal.
In mid-August Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said technical glitches in the new income tax e-filing portal would be largely fixed in the next couple of weeks and that she has been constantly reminding Infosys on the issue.
"I have been reminding Infosys (the vendor which developed the new portal) constantly, and (Infosys head) Nandan Nilekani has been messaging me with assurances that they will sort it out," she said.
