Income Tax Return Deadline: Avoid Difficulties In Accessing E-filing Income Tax Portal By Following These Step

Less than 3 hours are left for ITR deadline of September 16 to over. The Income Tax department provided a day's breather by extending the ITR filing deadline to Tuesday, from earlier September 15. This is a second time the deadline was extended, because originally, July 31st is the last date to file income tax returns. To avoid glitches, the department has released an advisory to use e-filing portal seamlessly on September 16.

Income Tax Payers Attention:

Through its X handler, IT department said, "Having difficulty accessing the Income Tax e-Filing Portal? Sometimes, access difficulties with the Income Tax e-Filing Portal may arise due to local system/browser settings."

The department said, these simple steps often help resolve such issues:

- Delete temporary files → Press Win + R → type temp and %temp% → delete all files.

- Clear browser cache & cookies → Go to Browser Settings → Clear browsing data (cache + cookies)

- Use a different/supported browser → Latest version of Chrome or Edge.

- Open in Incognito/Private Mode → Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+N OR Ctrl+Shift+P (Firefox

- Disable browser extensions → Especially ad-blockers or privacy tools.

- Update your browser → Ensure you are on the latest version.

- Try a different network → Switch to another Wi-Fi or mobile hotspot.

"Following these checks usually resolves most local access-related difficulties. For further support, please connect with us through our official helpdesk/contact channels," said the department.

ITR Filing Hits Record High:

Despite the technical glitches and other issues, the department recorded a all-time high in ITR filing to over 7.3 crore as of September 15, 2025. This has surpassed last year's print of 7.28 crore ITR.

The number of ITRs filed is increasing consistently. In the assessment year 2024-25, when the deadline was July 31st, a total of 7.28 crore income tax returns were filed. This is higher from 6.77 crore ITRs filed in the assessment year 2023-24.

Income Tax Return Deadline:

The department further extend the due date for filing these ITRs for AY 2025-26 from 15th September, 2025 to 16th September, 2025.

This comes after taxpayers faced issues and technical glitches in filing their ITR at the income tax portal. The IT department's official social media platforms were flooded with complaints over difficulty in filing their ITRs.

Also, it needs to be noted that the department carried out a maintenance mode of the e-filing portal from 12:00 AM to 2:30 AM on September 16. This was done to enable changes in utilities.

Earlier, the deadline was extended to September 15 from the original due date of July 31st for ITR filing.

However, netizens are not happy about the latest deadline. Many complained the delay process of ITR forms and utilities on the portal, along with portal issues. Some reported that they still struggled to access the portal.