Glitches continue at Infy-run income tax portal

September 15, 2021 20:43

Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

The new income tax e-filing portal, which was unveiled with much fanfare, is not completely glitch-free even as the deadline set by the government for Infosys to fix the problems expired on Wednesday.

Tax experts, who use the portal for various functions, said the website continues to face multiple glitches.

Even after over three months of the portal's launch, users are unable to submit rectification for returns filed, check refund status and file refund reissue request. They are also unable to see ITRs filed prior to Assessment Year (AY) 2013-14.

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 in its functioning.

Infosys was in 2019 given the contract to develop the portal.

The finance ministry had on August 23 "summoned" Infosys CEO Salil Parekh to explain why issues continued to plague the portal.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in the meeting with Parekh, expressed "deep disappointment" over persisting glitches and gave him time till September 15 to resolve all the issues.

Infosys and the income tax department did not respond to queries sent by PTI on the matter.

Nangia & Co LLP partner Shailesh Kumar said the government has indicated it is aware of the portal's persistent challenges when it extended the return filing deadlines by three months.

However, there is genuine hardship for taxpayers who have paid self-assessment tax but are not able to file ITR due to portal issues. They are still required to pay interest at 1 per cent per month (except senior citizens who have paid entire taxes by July 31) for delay in filing the ITR.

The government should give waiver of interest to those taxpayers who have already paid their entire tax liability, if they file their ITR within extended time limit of December 31, he said.

"The portal is still evolving with changes in modules of e-filing of ITR form. On some days, the portal works fine, on some other days, it faces technical glitches in some of the modules.

"Even though the functioning has improved over past few weeks, but still problems persist making it difficult for some taxpayers while filing the ITR," Kumar added.

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