Key Points

The practical challenges faced by taxpayers, chartered accountants, and other stakeholders in meeting the current timelines were emphasised by the GCCI in its recent representation.

GCCI contended that the late availability of return filing utilities more than made up for the government's extension of the ITR filing deadline for those exempt from audit from July 31 to September 15.

To give assessees sufficient time to comply, income tax utilities are typically made available in April. However, according to GCCI, the release has been delayed by an average of three months this year, and as of the first week of August, several forms were still pending.

The chamber noted that although ITR-5 was made available on August 8, ITR-1 through ITR-4 were only made available on July 30. ITR-6 and ITR-7 are yet to be released. Likewise, the tax audit forms, Forms 3CA-3CD and 3CB-3CD, were only released on July 29.

According to the GCCI, this has resulted in a shortened compliance timeline for professionals and taxpayers. Only on August 8th was ITR-5 made public. It covers a broad spectrum of assessees, including firms, LLPs, AOPs, BOIs, trusts, and estates. The effective window is far too short for accurate preparation and filing, as the non-audit case deadline is set for September 15th, the representative pointed out.

The chamber also emphasised the ongoing technical issues that have been interfering with filing procedures on the Income Tax e-filing portal. These problems, along with utilities' delayed releases, are "significantly impacting compliance timelines and efficiency," according to GCCI.

Infrastructure issues in India, where taxpayers continue to experience erratic internet connectivity in many areas, are another source of worry. Many taxpayers are finding it challenging to comply because there is not much time left for filing, and because software vendors are updating their systems to reflect frequent changes in the utilities.

In order to give professionals and taxpayers much-needed relief, GCCI has asked CBDT to extend the income tax audit and ITR filing deadlines, which are currently set at September 30, 2025.

- IANS