GCCI seeks extension in tax filing deadline due to online glitches

Panaji: Considering the difficulties in filing taxes and the glitches in the online portal, Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) has requested Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to extend the date for filing tax returns for non-audit tax payers by a month.
In a letter addressed to Sitharaman, GCCI president Ralph De Sousa requested that the interest for non-filing of returns within the due date be made applicable from September 1.
“The technical glitches on the new income tax portal have made it very difficult for taxpayers to file their income tax returns (ITR),” Sousa said.
GCCI said that the irregularities in the income tax portal have increased since the first week of July making it difficult for individuals and tax consultants to download forms, file returns and complete the e-verification of returns. “This has resulted in a loss of man hours and energies of taxpayers as well as professionals,” Sousa said.
He also pointed out that computation of self-assessment tax depends on the tax deducted at source (TDS) certificates provided by banks and other entities, which has been delayed and has yet to be auto-populated on the ITR portal.
“Considering the difficulties faced by the smaller taxpayers, we request that the due date for filing of income tax returns for non-audit assesses be extended to August 31. We also request that the income tax portal issues be looked into at the earliest, so that the assesses can have a hassle free experience in filing their income tax returns,” Sousa said.
He added that the newly launched annual information statement (AIS) gives a comprehensive view of the tax information but several instances of duplicate transactions makes the process of filing returns cumbersome for small tax payers. “The differences in figures between the AIS and the Form 26AS in certain cases has caused further confusion among taxpayers,” he said.
He also said that taxpayers have been trying to keep up with such a large number of amendments and the change in rates of GST which makes it difficult for them to compile the tax information for FY 2021-22.