New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) The Income Tax Department's I-T return filing portal faced huge traffic as the deadline for filing returns ends on Monday, leading to netizens complaining of glitches and demanding an extension of the September 15 deadline.

The department, however, said that the portal was working fine and gave no indication of extending the deadline for filing of income tax returns (ITRs) by individuals, HUFs and those who do not have to get their accounts audited for financial year 2024-25 (AY 2025-26).

The last date to file ITRs without penalty is September 15 for income earned in 2024-25 fiscal.

A number of chartered accountants and individuals have taken to social media over the past couple of days claiming that the I-T portal is facing glitches while making tax payment and downloading AIS (Annual Information Statement).

On Monday, netizens even complained that they were unable to log in into the e-fling portal.

In a late night post on X on September 14, the department termed "fake" a statement of extension of deadline, and asked taxpayers to only rely on official updates on @IncomeTaxIndia. "The due date for filing ITRs remains 15.09.2025," it said.

Replying to a post which claimed that there were issues in uploading ITR and tax payment, the department said, "The e-filing portal is working fine. Please clear your browser cache or try accessing the portal through a different browser". It also asked people to share their details (along with PAN and mobile number) to e-mail id [email protected].

On September 14, the I-T department had replied to users claiming issues with downloading AIS/TIS saying: "The AIS/TIS facility is functioning without any issues. May we request you to please try accessing it again. In case you continue to face difficulties, please share your details (along with your mobile number & public IP address) with us at [email protected]." Over 6 crore ITRs were filed till afternoon of September 13, as per data shared by the tax department. Last year, 7.28 crore ITRs were filed till the July 31 due date.

The department had in May announced an extension of the due date for filing ITRs for Assessment Year (AY) 2025-26 (for income earned in financial year 2024-25) by individuals, HUFs and entities who do not have to get their accounts audited from July 31 to September 15.

The extension was on account of "structural and content revisions" in the income tax return (ITR) forms, which was notified in late April and early May. The changes made in the ITR form for AY 2025-26 also need modifications to be made in ITR filing utilities and the back-end system.

ITR filings have shown consistent growth over the years, reflecting rising compliance and widening of the tax base. For AY 2024-25, a record 7.28 crore ITRs were filed up to July 31, 2024, compared to 6.77 crore for AY 2023-24, registering a 7.5 per cent year-on-year growth. PTI JD JD ANU ANU

Income tax return filing deadline remains unchanged despite portal glitches; taxpayers must use official support channels and troubleshooting tips. Complaints of technical glitches on the income tax e filing portal prompted user reports of login, payment and AIS/TIS download issues; the Income Tax Department denied any extension of the filing deadline, confirmed the portal's functioning, advised technical troubleshooting and asked affected taxpayers to submit PAN, mobile number and public IP address to designated support e mail addresses. The department referenced a prior administrative extension made to accommodate ITR form revisions and highlighted filing statistics while urging reliance on official channels.