Tech glitches: Only 1% of taxpayers file returns in Karnataka

BENGALURU: A large number of taxpayers in Karnataka have faced problems in filing their returns because of glitches on the new e-filing portal, which the Centre launched on June 7. Hardly 1 lakh of about 90 lakh taxpayers have been able to complete the process online in the current assessment year, according to senior officials in the income tax (I-T) department, Karnataka & Goa region. Issues have piled up ahead of September 30 deadline.
The region stands second after Maharashtra in tax collection. The collection for 2020-21 was nearly Rs 1.2 lakh crore; for the current year (till June 30), it’s Rs 30,942 crore. While taxpayers are supposed to file returns online, tax payment has not been hindered.
“As taxpayers have not been able to file returns for the year ending in March 2021, we are now processing returns of the previous year and issuing refunds. We hope the bugs on the new portal are fixed at the earliest so that we can take up new returns for processing,” said an official at the Income Tax Centralised Processing Centre, Bengaluru. An I-T official said that some bugs had been rectified and taxpayers under TDS were filing returns. But corporates are still waiting since the advance payment mode of tax is not glitch-free.
Main issues resolved
“Major glitches have been fixed. We have to address a few issues that we continue to face in some of the functionalities, and there are new functionalities. We are working in collaboration with the I-T department and other stakeholders,” said Infosys COO UB Pravin Rao, as mentioned at the recent quarterly results press conference. The development of the next-generation I-T filing system was aimed at reducing the processing time for returns from 63 days to one day and disbursing refunds instantaneously. But many taxpayers could not even complete the first step of downloading form 26A for verification of paid tax in the case of TDS, which is required for filing returns.
“The biggest concern is that business owners and individuals are unable to get bank loans, for which one has to submit copies of I-T returns. Corporates are seeing their credit limits getting stuck or shrinking,” said BT Shetty, the chairman of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Bengaluru branch.
According to Vivek Mallya, a chartered accountant, processing of refunds to the tune of hundreds of crores is pending because of the delay in filing returns. “Working capital of corporations has been locked. The wait for individual taxpayers like salaried employees to get refunds seems to be unending,” he said.
Some of the issues on the portal are failure to recognise the digital signature of taxpayers and authorised consultants, session expiry while uploading returns through JSON files, non-delivery draft assessment, and failure to generate OPT for e-proceedings through videoconferencing. The portal reportedly recognises July 31 as the deadline instead of September 30 and consequently, it generates notices seeking Rs 1,000 penalty and imposing 12 per cent interest. Currently, returns can be filed only online. Various stakeholders, including CAs and business owners, are urging the government to allow manual filing.