New e-filing portal to issue quick refunds to taxpayers, check all benefits here

The new ITR e-filing portal (www.incometax.gov.in) will go operational on June 7th. The current website will be unavailable until June 6 in order to formulate the introduction of the new income tax e-filing portal and the migration of records. By delivering several new innovative services to taxpayers, the new e-filing site is aimed to give ease and a modern, smooth interface. According to tax professionals, the tax department will use this portal for both ITR filing and solving any complaints or queries, as well as issuing orders such as assessments, appeals, exemptions, and penalties. Besides these advantages, the new e-filing site is projected to give the following pluses according to the release of The Press Information Bureau (PIB).

• Taxpayers will benefit from the new e-filing platform, which is integrated with prompt processing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs).
• All interactions and uploads, as well as pending actions, will be displayed on a single dashboard for the taxpayer to monitor and act accordingly.
• ITR preparation software will be provided to taxpayers for free, and it will be available both online and offline. The tool will include interactive questions to assist taxpayers in filing ITRs even if they have no prior tax experience, as well as pre-filing to reduce data entry load.
• A new call centre feature, which includes FAQs, Tutorials, Videos, and a Chatbot/live agent, is built to deliver rapid responses to taxpayers' concerns.
• All important portal features on the desktop will be available on the Mobile App, which will be activated soon for complete mobile network access at any time.
• Following that, a new online tax payment system will be introduced on the new portal, with a range of new payment methods including net banking, UPI, credit card, and RTGS/NEFT from any taxpayer's account in any bank for convenient tax payment.
• All taxpayers and other stakeholders are requested to be patient throughout the switch to the new e-filing site and the subsequent initial period while they become accustomed to the new system. This is another endeavour by the CBDT to make compliance easier for its taxpayers as well as other stakeholders.

According to a notification issued by the PIB Delhi, "In order to avoid any inconvenience to taxpayers, the Department will not fix any compliance dates during this period. Further, directions have been issued to fix hearing of cases or complaints only from 10thJune,2021 onwards, to give taxpayers time to respond to the new system. If any hearing or compliance which requires submissions online has been scheduled during this period, the same will be preponed or adjourned and the work items would be rescheduled after this period."

It has also further stated that "The Department has also intimated external entities including Banks, MCA, GSTN, DPIIT, CBIC, GeM, DGFT who avail services of PAN verification etc. about the non-availability of the services and to request them to make arrangements to ensure that their customers/stakeholders are apprised, so that any relevant activity can be completed prior to or after the blackout period."

On its twitter handle the Income Tax Department has also posted that "As we move to the new e-filing portal, e-filing services will not be available from 1st-6th June,2021. Do plan to complete your e-filing work accordingly/by 31st May/on our new portal http://incometax.gov.in 7th Jun, 2021 onwards.
Stay Tuned!."