Income Tax Portal Downtime During ITR Filing Season
Income Tax Portal downtime during the peak ITR filing season is a recurring concern for lakhs of Indian taxpayers. Delays, glitches, and login issues can disrupt filings, trigger penalties, and waste precious manhours.
Why It Matters During Peak ITR Season
When the ITR due date approaches—especially for salaried taxpayers and small businesses before 31st July or 31st October—the portal often slows down or becomes inaccessible. This leads to:
- Login failures
- OTP delivery issues
- Error messages during verification
- Delays in fetching AIS, Form 26AS, or prefilled data
- Failed e-verification or payment processing
Manhours Lost Across India
Even a 15-minute downtime, multiplied by 10 lakh taxpayers, means over 2.5 million man-minutes lost.
For CA firms and tax professionals:
- Staff wait idle
- Batch uploads fail
- Refund claims get delayed
CBDT Clarifications & Responsibility
While CBDT and Infosys (the portal developer) claim constant updates, real-time taxpayer experience often says otherwise. Despite official responses during past glitches, long-term performance improvement remains a demand from professionals and industry bodies.
How to Deal with Portal Glitches
Here’s how to protect your filing deadlines and clients’ peace of mind:
- File early – Don’t wait till the last week.
- Use utility mode – Download JSON/Excel utility for offline prep.
- Keep backups – Save draft returns and acknowledgment copies.
- Retry during non-peak hours – Try late night or early morning.
- Track real-time portal status – Visit www.incometax.gov.in or X (Twitter) for updates.
Expert Tip: Don’t Rely Solely on Auto-Prefill
Prefilled ITRs often have mismatches. Always verify:
- Bank interest
- Capital gains (especially from mutual funds)
- Dividend data
- Salary breakups
Cross-check with AIS and Form 26AS to avoid notices later.
Legal Impact of Portal Failures
Technically, portal issues do not extend statutory deadlines, unless CBDT issues an official circular under Section 119. In 2021 and 2022, deadline extensions were granted due to persistent glitches—but no such move can be assumed.
Taxpayer is still liable for interest under Section 234A, penalty under 234F, and late TDS returns under Section 234E if not filed on time.
What Efiletax Recommends
- Use updated utilities to avoid technical errors
- Raise a grievance through the ‘Helpdesk’ if your filing fails
- Keep proof of attempts like screenshots for future reference
- Consider authorised ERI services for bulk, API-based return filing
Conclusion
The Income Tax Portal is the digital spine of tax compliance in India. But during peak ITR filing season, downtime becomes a serious productivity drain. Until systemic fixes arrive, early preparation and smart backups are your best defence.
Need help filing your ITR before the deadline without portal stress?
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Summary
Income Tax Portal downtime during peak ITR season disrupts lakhs of filings and causes massive manhour losses. Filing early, using offline utilities, and verifying prefilled data are key to staying compliant. Here’s how to safeguard your returns — even when the system crashes.
FAQs
Q1. Does portal downtime extend the ITR due date?
Not automatically. Unless CBDT issues an extension, the statutory deadline remains fixed.
Q2. Can I file ITR offline if the portal is down?
You can prepare it offline using the utility but must upload it online. Only select entities are allowed full offline paper filing.
Q3. Will I get a penalty waiver if the portal was down?
Only if CBDT issues a circular citing portal failure. Otherwise, Section 234F applies.