Summary: A representation has been made to the Union Finance Minister requesting immediate activation of the Income Tax e-Filing Portal facility for filing Form 68 under Section 270AA(2) in cases involving misreporting of income. Although the Finance Act, 2026 has expanded the scope of Section 270AA to extend immunity from penalty and prosecution to eligible misreporting cases, subject to prescribed conditions, the portal currently permits Form 68 only for underreporting cases. The representation highlights that eligible taxpayers are unable to seek statutory relief due to the absence of the required portal functionality. It also requests condonation of delays in tax payment and Form 68 filing where assessments preceded the amendment, extension of condonation for historical cases, and resolution of issues relating to pending rectification proceedings affecting TDS, TCS and self-assessment tax credits. The representation urges the Government to align the portal with the amended law to facilitate timely filing of immunity applications and reduce avoidable litigation.
Dated: 07 July 2026
To,
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman,
Hon’ble Union Minister of Finance
Government of India
15074-15075, 5th Floor, B-Wing, Kartavya Bhawan – 1
Respected Minister,
Subject: Request to enable the facility for filing immunity applications in respect of misreporting cases, consequent to the extension of immunity under the Finance Act, 2026
1. With reference to the above subject, I wish to bring to your kind attention a practical difficulty being faced by taxpayers and professionals on the Income Tax e-Filing Portal in relation to applications seeking immunity from penalty.
2. At present, the e-Filing Portal provides for the filing of Form No. 68 under section 270AA(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 [the Act] for seeking immunity from imposition of penalty only for underreporting cases.
3. However, under the amended Section 270AA of the Act, immunity is also made available to the misreporting of income. Accordingly, the portal presently provides no option for taxpayers whose cases involve misreporting to file an application for immunity.
4. It is respectfully submitted that the position has since undergone a significant change. The Act, as amended by the Finance Act, 2026, has expanded the scope of relief and, as understood, has extended immunity from imposition of penalty and from prosecution to cases of misreporting of income, subject to payment of the prescribed additional tax and to the fulfilment of the prescribed conditions. This is a welcome, taxpayer-friendly measure intended to reduce litigation.
5. Notwithstanding the above statutory change, the Income Tax e-Filing Portal has not yet been updated to provide a facility for filing immunity applications in respect of misreporting cases. As a consequence, taxpayers who are otherwise eligible to seek immunity in such cases are presently unable to file the requisite application through the portal, and a number of such cases remain pending solely for want of the enabling facility.
6. In addition to the above, the following grievances are noted with respect to the filing of immunity applications in misreporting cases:
6.1 In cases where assessment orders are passed prior to the amendment and penalty orders are being passed pursuant to the amendment, the condition that the tax determined pursuant to the assessment order has to be paid within 30 days of the notice of demand has a retroactive effect. It will be difficult to comply with this condition in hindsight, since assessment orders passed before the amendment came into force may not meet this requirement.
6.2 Any delay in payment of taxes determined pursuant to the notice of demand under the assessment order needs to be condoned.
6.3 Delay in filing Form 68 also needs to be condoned, in view of the lack of functionality on the IT portal.
6.4 Even otherwise, the authorities may be permitted to condone the delay in filing Form 68 not only for misreporting cases but also for underreporting cases historically, since the provisions are meant to avoid litigation.
6.5 Non-grant of TDS/TCS credit or self-assessment tax paid during the course of assessment proceedings is leading to an erroneous demand. The lack of timely conclusion of rectification proceedings is an impediment to filing an immunity application.
7. This is causing genuine hardship to honest taxpayers who wish to avail themselves of the relief now provided under law, but are unable to do so not through any default of their own, but solely due to the non-availability of the corresponding filing feature on the portal. As the limitation period for filing such applications is short and continues to run, the matter is time-sensitive.
8. In view of the above, I earnestly request your good office to kindly direct the concerned authorities to enable, at the earliest, the facility on the Income Tax e-Filing Portal for filing immunity applications in respect of misreporting cases, in line with the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 2025 as amended by the Finance Act, 2026, so that all affected taxpayers across the country may access the facility and file their applications within the prescribed time.
I shall be grateful for your kind intervention and an early resolution in this regard.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,
CA Siddesh Gaddi
CC
1. SMT Vidisha Kalra IRS (Pr Commissioner of Income Tax, Karnataka & Goa Region)
2. Shri Sanjay Kumar IRS (Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Karnataka & Goa Region)
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