Income Tax return e-filing unavailable till 6 June; new portal incometaxgov.in to go live on 7 June

There are several important changes that have come into effect for taxpayers from June 2021. One very important change is that taxpayers will not be able to use the income tax website for at least six days, starting from today, 1 June.

Recently, the Income Tax department released a notification informing that it would launch a new website for filing tax returns on 7 June. A statement from the department reads, “In preparation for this launch and for migration activities, the existing portal of the Department at www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in would not be available for a brief period of six days from June 1 to June 6”.

Income Tax Department will launch its new e-filing portal https://t.co/GYvO3n9wMf on 7th June'21.
It will replace the existing portal of the Department https://t.co/EGL31K6szN. E- Filing services will be unavailable from 1st - 6th June'21. #NewPortal #eFiling #EasingCompliance pic.twitter.com/itEIgP39Bk

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) May 29, 2021

We are excited to be moving to the new e-Filing portal from 7th June, 2021 onwards. The new portal, designed to be more user friendly, will have several new features and enhancements. Stay Tuned!#NewPortal #eFiling #EasingCompliance pic.twitter.com/v6rj2era7J — Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) May 29, 2021

Further in the notice, the department mentioned that the transition from the old portal www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in to the new www.incometaxgov.in will be made operational from 7 June. Giving details on the new portal, the department asserted that the new link is designed to be more user-friendly and will have several new features to it.

Below are few important changes for June 2021 that taxpayers should know:

-        Taxpayers cannot file revised or belated Income Tax Return (ITR) for Financial Year 2019-20 from 1 June as the due date is 31 May

-        The last date of filing late or revised ITR for FY 2019-20 was 31 May. The Central government had extended the date amid the COVID-19 pandemic after receiving several requests from stakeholders seeking relaxation in tax compliances. Earlier, the deadline was 31 March

-        The Income-tax department is currently revamping the ITR e-filing website

-        The retirement body had earlier asked users to link their provident fund accounts to Aadhaar cards by June; or else their EPF contributions might be stopped crediting into the accounts. People should note that the Universal Account Number (UAN) also needs to be linked to your Aadhaar accounts

-        From 1 June, the Bank of Baroda will implement new cheque payment rules for its customers. For cheque payments of over Rs 2 lakh, the bank will need to provide ‘positive pay confirmation’ to the bank

-        This new rule is aimed at preventing fraud incidents in payments made via cheques

-        The last date of filing the State of Financial Transaction under Section 285BA is 30 June. Previously, it was 31 May

-        The last date for the statement of the reportable account has been extended to 30 June. Earlier it was 31 May

-        Taxpayers should note that the last date for submitting the TDS Statement for Q4 of FY 2020-21 is now 30 June; earlier it was 31 May

-        The customer under the Positive Pay system needs to confirm again if payment of more than Rs 2 lakh is made through cheque. If the customer fails to do so, then the transaction will be cancelled