ITR Deadline Extended by One Day at 11:48 PM, Sparks Outcry

In a dramatic late-night announcement, India’s Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extended the income tax return (ITR) filing deadline for Assessment Year 2025-26 by a single day, from September 15 to September 16, 2025. The decision, made at 11:48 PM on the final day, came after the government’s e-filing portal, managed by Infosys, was hit by widespread technical glitches, causing a surge of complaints from taxpayers and professionals.

The extension was necessitated by a near-total collapse of the e-filing portal as millions of last-minute filers attempted to submit their returns. Users reported severe issues, including server crashes, login failures, failed payments, and slow processing, making it impossible for many to meet the original midnight deadline. This is not the first time the portal has faced such issues, raising questions about its capacity to handle peak filing volumes.

The CBDT’s official announcement was made via a press release and a tweet from its official handle, Income Tax India. The tweet, posted just minutes before the deadline, informed the public of the extension and mentioned that the portal would undergo maintenance from 12:00 AM to 02:30 AM on September 16 to “enable changes in the utilities.”

Tweets reproduced below:

Income Tax India @IncomeTaxIndia KIND ATTENTION TAXPAYERS! The due date for filing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for AY 2025-26, originally due on 31st July 2025, was extended to 15th September 2025. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has decided to further extend the due date for filing these ITRs for AY 2025-26 from 15th September, 2025 to 16th September, 2025. To enable changes in the utilities, the e- filing portal will remain in maintenance mode from 12:00 AM to 02:30AM on 16th September 2025. Press Release issued:

Tweet Analysis: A Deluge of Frustration and Sarcasm

The social media response to the CBDT’s announcement was overwhelmingly negative, characterized by a mix of anger, sarcasm, and profound disappointment. An analysis of the tweets reveals several key themes:

• Sense of Betrayal and Disrespect: Many users, particularly tax professionals, felt the late-night announcement was a “mockery” and a “denial of justice.” Tweets from accounts like CA Vibhor Gupta and CA Manish Malhotra conveyed a sense of disgrace, suggesting that the government had failed to acknowledge the genuine hardships faced by those who had “toiled so hard” to comply with their duties. The sentiment was that the authorities were “making a mockery” of diligent taxpayers.
• Sarcasm and Mockery of the “Digital India” Vision: A significant portion of the tweets used sarcasm to highlight the gap between the government’s “Digital India” rhetoric and the reality of a dysfunctional e-filing portal. Users questioned how a country aiming to be the world’s third-largest economy could have such a “pathetic infrastructure.” Memes and jokes about the portal’s unreliability were rampant, with tweets like Sumit’s and The Skin Doctor’s underscoring the irony of a site that “inevitably crashes on that very day.” The maintenance window was also a source of sarcasm, with Nitin Mantri pointing out the illogic of extending the deadline by a day and then immediately taking the site offline.
• Demand for Accountability: The frustration was not just with the government but also with Infosys, the company responsible for developing and maintaining the portal. Several tweets, including one from Ipounlock, called for penalties to be imposed on the company, demanding “world class infrastructure.” The public sentiment was that the technical glitches were a systemic failure for which the responsible parties should be held accountable.
• Exasperation with Chronic Issues: The tweets show that this is not a one-off event. Taxpayers expressed a deep-seated weariness with the recurring problems. Sridhar Balakrishnan’s tweet highlighted that extensions are “necessitated due [to] glitches” and are not a favor to taxpayers, who feel “harrassed.” The sentiment was that the problem wasn’t a last-minute rush but a fundamentally flawed system.
• Questioning the Logic and Timing: The timing of the extension was a major point of contention. People were baffled as to why the announcement was made at 11:48 PM, just 12 minutes before the deadline. Tweets from users like CA. Roshan Agarwal and D questioned the “pleasure” the authorities were deriving from such a last-minute decision, arguing that it made the extension feel like a useless gesture. The extension was seen not as a gesture of goodwill but as an act of self-preservation to save face after the portal’s collapse.

Tweets reproduced below:

THE SKIN DOCTOR @theskindoctor13 Why do people wait until the last day to file ITR when they know the “great” website built by the “great” Infosys will inevitably crash on that very day? Still, the last day is meant for filing too, so the site should work, period. If it doesn’t (as today shows), a 1–2 day extension should be given for those affected. And from next year, the deadline announcement should come with a disclaimer: File early. If you wait till the last few days, our website will collapse under its own greatness, and we won’t take responsibility.

Kaustubh Davera @DaveraCa Interpretation 1. Utilities on the portal were not ready: dates extended by 1.5 months. 2. Taxpayers ask for an extension due to the faulty portal: dates extension of one day. 3 Advance tax installment deadline: forgotten.

Indian @Indiahitsback When you issue notification then clearly specify @Infosys was given 2.5 hours just to update one date in utilities and taxpayers were given 21.5 hours to file millions of pending returns and shamelessly write 21.5 hours as we are labours who do not have right to sleep #Extension_हक़_है_भीख_नहीं#DueDateExtension

CA Vibhor Gupta @heyvibhor You guys are making a mockery of genuine taxpayers and tax professionals who have toiled so hard to do their duty towards the nation diligently and you guys didn’t even acknowledged the fact that the portal is faulty and is full of glitches. No words can be put this to explain this situation. Moment of pure disgrace and shame !! What have you done @nsitharaman??

CA Manish Malhotra @camalhotra The notification Just few minutes before the last date is denial of justice and mockery of taxpayers and tax professionals who victim the faulty IT portal.

Rajat Agarwala @RjtAg222 Kya mazak laga rakha hai! Democracy hai ya autocracy? Even after so many representations, extending due date by 1 day that too with few minutes remaining for the original due date is the biggest insult to taxpayers! Shame! #Extend_Due_Date_Immediately#extend

CA. Roshan Agarwal @rhoeshan Why wait till 11.48pm on the due date when your portal was in comma to extend? What kind of pleasure you guys are getting out of it? Pathetic!

🆁🅼 (𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓) @Ravi_Riskmgmt This is our Indian Income tax system by which we look to become the 3rd largest economy.. Compliance portal and Authorities senior alongwith finance ministry making good insult of self by self goal. 24 hour extension just before 12 minute and 2.30 hour maintainance from 12.00 to 2.30

Sumit @SKB7482 Don’t you people have any shame left? What kind of pathetic infrastructure is this? This is your digital India?

D @Deb_livnletliv So after knowing that the pathetic site had been unresponsive for hours ,just 12 minutes before the deadline gets over you decided to extend it by WHOLE 1 DAY?? Are everyone in the government and agency as ineffective as the company which designed this Portal and System, it certainly seems you lot are much worse than them.

Debasish (দেবাশিস্) Ghosh @debasishg Will this extension also apply to advance tax payment for AY 26-27 ?

CA Ashish sharma @sharma_ashish3 Extending ITR deadline at 6 PM – Extending it at 11:48 PM –

Komal @Komal_Indian 1 day extension at midnight… karzdaar bana diya desh ko

Atul Modani @atulmodani The extension at the end of the due date when your portal was non functional since last 3 days which you very well knew as the daily numbers proved, that too as a beg of 1 day is as useless as functioning your portal and attitude and understanding of decision makers. This is done just to save your skin as you know the number of ITRs filed were less than even last year which will come on record. Audacity is so huge that you have not even given the reason for this extension out of shame nor accept your mistake. You have further wasted 2.30 hours via useless maintenance of the site which you did yesterday also but was not beneficial. This is black day in our democratic country as the rights of taxpayers and Income tax charter were crushed by Finmin , @PMOIndia

Ipounlock @ipounlock Mazak hai kya …why world class infrastructure cannot be provided?? Impose penalty on Infosys!!!

CA Prakhar Jain @prakharjain2244 Gjb ke stupid and insensitive log baithe hai, Portal ke last ke 4 days ke failure pe aankh band kar ke Ye jale pe namak chidak rhe hai

CA CS Nitin Mantri @CANitinMantri Scheduled post of 11.59 pm posted earlier at 11.48 pm. Good progress by the IT department by posting 11 min earlier. I am still confused that schedule maintenance is from 12 am ie., 16th September then it is of no sense to extend. What a great authority which is working and posting late at night. Great

Sood Saab @SoodSaab11 Classic! CBDT pushes ITR deadline again. Now 16th Sept 2025. Most of this chaos is avoidable if the portal actually worked well. Taxpayers wait till the last minute because the system is confusing, unreliable, and leaves everyone stressed. Maintenance at midnight? Perfect timing…

CA Arvind Sharma @fca_arvind Seriously? I mean for whom you extended by 1 day? Must be some MLA MP.. have to ask in RTI who filed when their ITR..

Pardeep Chaudhary @goldy8581 Shameless!! This is draconian rule at its worst! @nsitharamanoffc @PMOIndia @FinMinIndia कुछ तो शर्म कर लो ! The income tax portal is a nightmare for taxpayers, plagued by constant glitches and outdated infrastructure from the finance ministry. It’s a frustrating and shameful service!

Ankit Kall @ankitkall Will this extension guarantee of smooth functioning of Income Tax portal tomorrow

Vibhor Varshney @nakulvibhor Badi jaldi kr dia? Could have done it earlier In day itself And it was extended to 15th Sept this time you have released forms in July

Biswaranjan Pattnaik @iamPattnaik Why insult taxpayers with a symbolic 1-day ITR deadline extension? When govt mocks taxpayers with just 1-day ITR extension, it’s arrogance. And arrogance leads to destruction. #itrduedateextension

Shares and Life @sharesandlife when everything was working fine what was the need of extension

Rohit Jain @rohitjain2021 Nahi dena tha.. Majak ho gya sabke saath…

Sridhar Balakrishnan, @bsridhar00 KIND ATTENTION TAX PAYERS ALL these extentions were necessitated due glitches in the portal. It was unavailable till july. Then kept crashing. Extensions are not to help tax payers. We are harrassed in several ways.

Prajjwal Agrawal @ca_prajjwal I thought i misread it, but indeed it is 1 day extension.

Conclusion

While the one-day extension provides a brief respite for those who were unable to file, it has done little to calm the widespread anger over the portal’s chronic instability. The episode highlights the ongoing struggles with India’s digital tax infrastructure and the need for a more robust and reliable system, particularly during crucial filing periods. The public outcry suggests a growing demand for accountability from both the government and its technology partner, Infosys, to deliver a seamless and frustration-free experience for taxpayers.