The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Thursday further extended the deadline to file Income Tax Return (ITR) for fiscal year 2020-21 to December 31, 2021.
The deadline has been extended for a second time on account of technical glitches on the new income tax e-filing portal.
The new e-filing portal, www.incometax.gov.in, was launched on June 7. It got off to a rocky start as taxpayers and professionals reported experiencing glitches and difficulties right from the get-go.
Infosys was awarded the contract to develop the portal. The finance ministry had on August 23 “summoned” Infosys CEO Salil Parekh to explain why issues continued to plague the portal developed by the software major.
“On consideration of difficulties reported by the taxpayers in filing of Income Tax Returns(ITRs) & Audit reports for AY 2021-22 under the IT Act, 1961, CBDT further extends the due dates for filing of ITRs & Audit reports for AY 21-22,” the official Twitter handle of the CBDT tweeted.
According to the CBDT circular, “The due date of furnishing of Return of Income for the Assessment Year 2021-22, which was July 31, 2021, under sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act, as extended to September 30, 2021, vide Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to December 31, 2021.”
Additionally, the due date of furnishing of Report of Audit under any provision of the Act for the Previous Year 2020-21, which is September 30, 2021, as extended to October 30, 2021, vide Circular No.9/2021 dated 20.05.2021, is hereby further extended to January 15, 2022.
Earlier, several taxpayers who filed their ITR for the year 2020-21 after July 31 were charged late fees and interest, despite the deadline being extended till September 30, 2021.
After many taxpayers complained about the issue, the Income Tax Department announced that it will refund the late fee and excess interest paid by taxpayers while filing ITR for 2020-21 due to a software glitch on the Income Tax website.
