KSCAA highlighted critical issues with the Income Tax Portal affecting taxpayers and professionals. These issues include intermittent portal access, inability to download essential forms like 26AS, discrepancies in pre-filled data, and difficulties in submitting responses and resetting passwords. Stakeholders are also facing challenges in generating tax payment challans, encountering error messages during filing, and delays in e-verifying returns due to OTP issues. These technical glitches are causing considerable stress and potential penalties for taxpayers nearing the July 31 filing deadline.
KSCAA’s representation urges immediate intervention to rectify these issues and ensure smooth filing processes. They seek the Chairperson’s directive to prioritize technical fixes, alleviate stakeholder burdens, and restore confidence in the tax administration system. The association emphasizes the importance of timely resolution to facilitate compliant tax filing and uphold taxpayer rights, urging support from relevant authorities including the Union Finance Minister and Revenue Secretary. They underscore the critical role of efficient tax administration in fostering trust and compliance within the taxpayer community, urging swift action to address these pressing concerns.
KARNATAKA STATE
CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT ASSOCIATION (R)
To,
To, Ravi Agarwal,
Chairperson, The Central Board of Direct Taxes
Date: 15th July 2024
SUBJECT: REPRESENTATION REGARDING GLITCHES IN THE INCOME TAX PORTAL
The Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association (R) (in short ‘KSCAA’) is an association of Chartered Accountants, registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, in the year 1957. KSCAA is primarily formed for the welfare of Chartered Accountants and represents before various regulatory authorities to resolve the professional problems faced by Chartered Accountants and the business community.
In the past, we have written to your good selves many times populating various issues, challenges and hardships being faced by taxpayers and Chartered Accountants and suggesting possible solutions on the same. Herein, we are presenting before your good selves for your kind consideration, issues regarding technical glitches being faced by assessees, taxpayers and professionals in filing return of income under the Income tax Act, 1961 (The Act).
1. INTRODUCTION:
The due date for filing Income Tax Returns for the Assessment Year 2024-25, for assessees not requiring an audit under any law is July 31, 2024, as specified in Section 139(1) the Act. The initial step for filing the income tax return is to verify the data provided by the Income Tax Department in Form 26AS, Tax Information Summary (TIS) and Annual Information Statement (AIS) on their Portal. It is crucial to address any discrepancies or mismatches in this data, as failure to reconcile these issues can lead to various complications for assessees.
2. CHALLENGES FACED:
However, in the past few days, assessees and professionals have been facing the following issues/ challenges while trying to file their Income tax returns:
- Intermittent difficulty in logging into the Income tax portal:
On several occasions, stakeholders have reported that they are unable to access the portal to file income tax returns. These disruptions appear to be due to temporary overloading of the system or ongoing maintenance activities, leading to service unavailability. The same is also affecting other compliances on the portal like giving reply to notices, etc.,
- Failure to download 26AS, AIS and TIS from the Income tax portal:
Stakeholders have encountered numerous instances where they were unable to access or download these vital forms. This problem has resulted in significant loss of time and inefficient use of resources. With the filing deadline only 15 days away, this issue has heightened anxiety among stakeholders. The repercussions of not filing on time are substantial, including penalties, interest charges, and the inability to choose the most suitable taxation scheme.
- Discrepancy in Pre-filled Data
There is a significant mismatch between the prefilled data on the Income Tax Portal and the information as available in Form 26AS/ AIS. Sometimes, there is inconsistency in the data available in these forms. This discrepancy is causing considerable confusion and panic among the stakeholders. Immediate resolution is needed to ensure data accuracy and reduction of the issues faced by stakeholders.
- Restricted options to submit responses in AIS and TIS in the Income tax portal:
There are ongoing issues for submitting responses to the data in the AIS and TIS sections of the Income Tax Portal. Assessees are encountering difficulties in completing their responses. Additionally, when responses are submitted, there are delays or failures in updating these responses in the AIS or TIS. This problem is affecting the accuracy and timeliness of the information provided and thereby delaying the process of filing the return of income.
- Difficulty in resetting Password:
Stakeholders are experiencing difficulty in resetting their passwords due to the non-generation of OTPs. This issue is causing delays in filing income tax returns.
- Difficulty in generating challan for payment of tax:
There are glitches in generating challans for tax payments on the portal. This issue is causing significant stress for assessees, impacting their ability to pay taxes on time and file their income returns. The potential consequences of late filing or non-filing further demand urgency of resolving this issue.
- Error Messages popping up during submission of return for filing
During the submission stage of filing returns, unknown and vague error messages are appearing frequently. These errors often lack clear resolutions or explanations, causing significant difficulties for assessees in completing their income tax return filing on time.
- Difficulty in filing the return of Income:
Stakeholders are encountering difficulties in filing their income tax returns due to technical glitches and buffering issues on the Income Tax Portal.
- Difficulty in e-verifying the return of Income that has been filed:
Stakeholders are experiencing difficulties in e-verifying their income tax returns which has been filed, due to non-receipt of OTPs. Additionally, the reduction of the e-verification deadline to 30 days is causing increased anxiety among stakeholders.
- Generation of multiple OTPs :
Due to the failure of OTPs to be generated in real-time, assessees are resorting to generating multiple OTPs. However, none of these OTPs are being validated, causing additional frustration and delays in filing various forms and income tax returns.
- Difficulty in downloading the ITR receipt :
Stakeholders, in several cases, are unable to download the ITR receipt after filing their return.
3. REPRESENTATION:
- In view of the aforementioned issues and challenges listed above, the assesses, taxpayers and professionals are under lot of stress to file the return of income on time, as the due date for filing of return of income is fast approaching. There is lot of burden on the stakeholders in terms of time management and resources required to file the return of income within the due date. Hence, we respectfully seek your involvement and direction to remove the technical glitches to allow smooth filing of returns on time.
- We earnestly request you to direct the concerned authorities to prioritize and ensure the timely filing of the returns of income. Your intervention is pivotal to not only to ease the difficulties faced by taxpayers but also to bolster confidence in the tax system, reaffirming the government’s commitment to safeguarding taxpayers’ rights. We trust in your commitment to upholding the principles of fairness, justice, and efficient tax administration.
- Taking into consideration the hardships caused, we the members of Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association, on behalf of the entire Chartered Accountants community and also on behalf of the trade and industry in the state of Karnataka appeal to your good selves to kindly consider our above request and resolve the issues instantaneously and pave way for smooth filing of return of income.
Yours sincerely,
For Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association ®
CA. Sujatha G
President
CA. Sunil Bhandary
Secretary
CA. Babitha G
Chairperson, Representation Committee
Cc to:
1. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon. Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Government of India
2. Pankaj Choudhary, Hon’ble Minister of State, Finance.
3. Sanjay Malhotra, Hon’ble Revenue Secretary
4. Shelley Jindal, PCCIT, Karnataka and Goa
5. Govind Lal, Director General of Income Tax (Systems) (OSD)
6. Zakir Thomas, DGIT(Systems)(OSD), Bengaluru
7. Commissioner of Income Tax, CPC, Bengaluru
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