Despite Extension of Due Dates ITR Filing Has Increased To 3.2 lakh Daily In September, 2021: Check Report

The Income Tax Department's e-filing site (www.incometax.gov.in) was introduced on June 7, 2021. Since then, taxpayers and experts have experienced malfunctions and problems with the platform. However, between April 1st and August 30th, 2021, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) provides refunds of over Rs. 67,401 crore to over 23.99 lakh taxpayers. In all, Rs. 16,373 crore in income tax refunds and Rs. 51,029 crore in corporate tax refunds has been given in 22,61,918 cases.

Several problems have been reported by taxpayers since the introduction of the new portal, however notwithstanding the struggles, over 8.83 crore individual taxpayers have checked in until September 7, 2021, with a daily average of over 15.55 lakh. In September 2021, the number of ITRs submitted climbed to 3.2 lakh per day, with 1.19 crore ITRs filed for the fiscal year 2021-22. About 76.2 lakh taxpayers have used the portal's online service to file their income tax returns. Whereas over 94.88 lakh ITRs have also been e-verified out of which 7.07 lakh ITRs have been processed so far.

Taxpayers have been allowed to witness approximately 8.74 lakh Notices issued by the Department under the Faceless Assessment/Appeal/Penalty processes, out of which almost 2.61 lakh fixes have been made successfully, according to a statement released by the Finance Ministry. On a daily basis in September 2021, an average of 8,285 Notices for e-proceedings was issued and 5,889 responses were submitted.

Approximately 10.60 lakh statutory forms have been filed, comprising 7.86 lakh TDS reports, 1.03 lakh submission of Form 10A, 0.87 lakh submission of Form 10E for pay arrears, and 0.10 lakh submission of Form 35 for appeals. 66.44 lakh taxpayers have linked their Aadhaar numbers to their PAN numbers, and over 14.59 lakh e-PANs have been issued. In September 2021, over 0.50 lakh taxpayers took advantage of these two services on a daily basis despite the glitches on the new Income Tax Portal, according to the statement.

New Deadline For Income Tax Return Filing For The Assessment Year 2021-2022

According to an official memorandum issued on September 9, 2021, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has declared to further extend the due dates for filing Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2021- 22 under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the "Act"), based on hardships disclosed by taxpayers and other stakeholders in filing Income Tax Returns and various reports of audit for the Assessment Year 2021- 22 under the Income-tax Act, 1961.

1. 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;
2. The due date of furnishing of Report of Audit under any provision of the Act for the Previous Year 2020-21, which is 30th September, 2021, as extended to 31st October 2021 vide Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to 15th January, 2022;
3. The due date of furnishing Report from an Accountant by persons entering into international transaction or specified domestic transaction under section 92E of the Act for the Previous Year 2020-21, which is 31st October, 2021, as extended to 30th November, 2021 vide Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to 31st January, 2022;
4. The due date of furnishing of Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2021-22, which is 31st October, 2021 under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act, as extended to 30th November, 2021 vide Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to 15th February, 2022;
5. The due date of furnishing of Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2021-22, which is 30th November, 2021 under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act, as extended to 31st December, 2021 vide Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to 28th February, 2022;
6. The due date of furnishing of belated/revised Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2021-22, which is 31st December, 2021 under sub-section (4)/sub-section (5) of section 139 of the Act, as extended to 31st January, 2022, vide Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to 31st March, 2022.