The Karnataka State Association of Chartered Accountants (KSCAA) has submitted a representation to the Central Board of Direct Taxes highlighting the critical issues affecting the income tax portal. Taxpayers and Chartered Accountants face challenges like login failures, slow response times and frequent error messages that disrupt the process of filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) and TDS returns. Users are reporting difficulties accessing essential forms including 26AS, AIS, TIS and Form 3CEB, along with problems generating appeals and making payments. As the filing deadline of October 31, 2024 approaches, these technical errors are causing undue stress, risking penalties and additional interest charges for late filing. KSCAA has called for immediate attention to improve system performance, advocating on behalf of the accounting community and taxpayers to ensure better compliance.

Karnataka State
Chartered Accounts Association (R)

At,
Shri Ravi Agarwal,
president,
Central Council of Direct Taxes

Date: October 25, 2024
Ref No: 004/2024-25

SUBJECT: REPRESENTATION REGARDING DEFECTS IN THE INCOME TAX PORTAL

Karnataka State Association of Chartered Accountants (R) (in short “KSCAA”), established in 1957 and registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, is dedicated to upholding the welfare of Chartered Accountants. Our mission is to represent their interests to regulators and address the professional challenges facing both Chartered Accountants and the business community by striving for effective solutions.

Over the years, we have raised various concerns about the challenges and difficulties faced by taxpayers and chartered accountants, along with proposed solutions. Today, we would like to highlight specific technical issues and anomalies encountered by assessees, taxpayers and professionals while filing returns and forms under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

1. INTRODUCTION:

Section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act provides that income-tax returns for the assessment year 2024-25 must be filed by October 31, 2024, for assessees subject to audit under any law. We are writing to urgently address the significant challenges faced by taxpayers on the Income Tax website. For your reference, our earlier communication dated 15th July 2024 (Annexure – 1) is attached wherein we have highlighted several issues faced by assessees while filing returns and forms. We appreciate that certain issues have been resolved; however, there are still challenges that require immediate attention.

Further, Section 200(3) read with Rule 31A mandates filing of TDS returns in Form 24Q/26Q/27Q which also coincides with October 31, 2024.

CHALLENGES WITH WHICH:

• Login failures, unresponsive pages and timeouts:

Users have reported frequent problems accessing the income tax return filing portal. These outages appear to be from temporary system overloads or ongoing maintenance, resulting in service unavailability.

Users have reported significant delays in the response time of the Income Tax Portal, especially when logging in, submitting forms or accessing documents. These extended loading times add to users’ woes.

• Failure to download 26AS, Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS):

Many users have experienced difficulties in accessing or downloading these essential documents. This problem has resulted in significant loss of time and inefficient use of resources. With the filing deadline approaching with less than a week to go, the anxiety level among users has increased as it is essential to reconcile the details available in these returns before filing the income return.

• Error messages that appear while submitting the return for filing:

During the filing stage, users frequently encounter vague error messages that lack clear explanations or resolutions. This creates substantial challenges for assessees trying to complete their income tax returns on time.

• Difficulty in submitting the income statement:

Users are facing challenges in filing income tax returns due to technical glitches and buffering issues in the income tax portal. Consequences of late filing may include penalties, interest charges and limitations on selecting the most advantageous tax scheme.

• Difficulty in filing TDS returns in Form 24Q/26Q/27Q:

Similar technical glitches and buffering issues prevent users from filing TDS returns effectively.

• Difficulty in submitting the tax audit report:

Users are facing hurdles in submitting tax audit reports due to ongoing technical issues.

During submission of Form 3CEB, users faced a significant issue where in Part A, the name of the Chartered Accountant signing the form appears instead of the assessee’s name. This ongoing problem adds to the confusion and complexity of the filing process.

• Difficulty in generating challan and making payment:

Stakeholders are facing difficulty in raising appeals and making payments on the income tax portal due to technical issues.

2. REPRESENTATION:

Given the challenges outlined, taxpayers and professionals are under considerable pressure to meet future filing deadlines. These issues place substantial pressure on both time management and the resources required to submit returns on time. Despite significant time constraints, professionals work diligently to complete cases promptly. The consequences of not filing returns and forms on time can lead to serious repercussions, including interest charges, penalties and the inability to choose the appropriate tax regime. Therefore, we urge your immediate intervention to resolve these technical issues and improve the submission process.

In view of the difficulties encountered, we, the members of the Association of State Chartered Accountants of Karnataka, respectfully urge you to consider our request on behalf of the entire Chartered Accountant community and commerce and industry in Karnataka.

Sincerely,
For the Association of State Chartered Accountants of Karnataka ®

CC:

1. Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Hon. Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Government of India

2. Shri. Pankaj Choudhary, Hon’ble Minister of State, Finance.

3. Shri. Sanjay Malhotra, Hon’ble Revenue Secretary

4. Shri. Shelly Jindal, PCCIT, Karnataka and Goa

5. Shri. Govind Lal, Director General of Income Tax (Systems) (OSD)

6. DGIT(Systems)(OSD), Bengaluru

7. The Commissioner of Income Tax, CPC, Bengaluru