It has been a month since the launch of the new web portal of the Income Tax Department which has been designed and developed by software giant Infosys, but technical glitches are still persisting while accessing the web portal of the I-T Department and that too after the finance minister has headed the meeting on this issue.
However, as per sources, it cannot be completely denied that nearly 8-10 lakh people are logging in to the new e-filing web portal, and consequently close to 40,000 ITRs are being filed every day. But entire users across the length and breadth of the country and overseas also are not able to access the website.
What Exactly is the issue with the Website of the I-T Dept?
The problematic areas on the website are:
- There is an issue with the modification of the master data of the taxpayers
- The Form No. 3 (i.e. certificate of declaration) under the Vivad se Vishwas scheme
- Firms located overseas have been facing trouble in accessing the page.
- Users are not able to file the I-T returns for the earlier years
- Trouble is creeping in downloading the intimation notice as per section 143(1) for the AY 2019-20 and the earlier years.
- Non-availability of the Income Tax Returns 3,5,6 and 7 along with the rectification functionality
- Issues in the filing of Income Tax returns,
- Bottlenecks in e-verification
- Login issues with a large proportion of users
- The technical issues in the filing of specific statutory forms.
When the income tax department was asked about the question mark on the performance of the web portal, It replied that it is in continuous contact with the Infosys company to resolve the aforesaid issues.
“The Department is continuously engaged with Infosys to expedite the resolution of any pending issues and to make available all balance functionalities at the earliest. The Department is also taking corrective measures based on feedback from taxpayers, tax professionals, and representatives of ICAI to provide taxpayers with a smooth e-filing experience, the Central Board of Direct Taxes
These types of taxes are directly imposed and paid to the government of India. Example of Direct Tax is Income Tax, TDS, Securities Transaction Tax, Fringe Benefit Tax, etc (CBDT) said.
Although this fact cannot be ignored that the top officials of the Finance Ministry are continuously having meetings and feedback sessions with the official of Infosys.”
When questions were asked from the officials of Infosys about the technical clutches on the web portal of the I-T Department, they replied that they are in their silent period. They further added that clarity has already been provided in their recently held Annual General Meeting.
“The tax portal serves as the depository of all documents filed with the income tax department. However, the taxpayer is unable to download most documents from the portal like forms filed in earlier years. The portal in the current form is very slow as compared to the earlier portal, Industry chamber PHDCCI’s Direct Taxes Committee Chairman Mukul Bagla added.”
On the defence side, Deloitte India’s Partner Saraswathi Kasturirangan commented that certain specific functionalities, for instance, filing of grievance petitions, checking the status of the e-proceedings, and so on are now operational and working effectively and this phenomenon clearly indicates that the utility of the web portal is expanding.
