Income Tax Department Launched New ITR Filing Portal on 7 June

 

Income Tax Department started a new ITR filing portal on 7th June 2021. This new Income tax e-filing portal is likely to prove to be more user-friendly. This could be another measure by the department to ensure ease of compliance with its taxpayers. Let us discuss this development in full.

What do you understand about the e-filing Portal?

A taxpayer's e-filing portal is used to file their personal or business category income tax returns and raise complaints seeking refunds and other services with the tax department. The taxpayer uses it to issue notices, receive feedback from the taxpayer and answer their questions and also announce final orders such as assessments, appeals, waivers, penalties, etc.

Purpose of the New Portal

The new e-filing portal aims at facilitating the taxpayers and providing them with a modern and seamless experience. It can be used to file regular ITRs and perform other tax-related tasks.

Transition to New e-filing Portal

It is to be noted that the present web portal will remain closed for six days, i.e. from 1st June to 6th June. An order issued by the department's system wing states that the old portal (www.Incometaxindiaefiling.gov) will be sent to the new portal (www. income tax. in) and is likely to be operationalized from June 7.

The order stated that for launch preparation and migration activities, the present portal would not be available for a brief period, and would not be available to both taxpayers and officers of the Income Tax Department as well during the said period. The order further advised that all officers be directed to fix any hearings or compliances from June 10 only to give taxpayers time to respond to the new system.

Features of the New e-filing Portal

The salient features of the new e-filing portal are as follows:

• The brand new taxpayer-friendly e-filing portal will be integrated with the instant processing of Income Tax Returns for quick issuance of refunds to the taxpayers.

• All interactions and uploaded or pending actions are displayed on the dashboard for follow-up action by the taxpayer.

• There will be the availability of free ITR preparation software offline and online with interactive questions to help taxpayers file ITR even with no knowledge of tax pre-filing for minimum data entry effort.

• All essential portal functions on the desktop will be available on the mobile app, which will then be enabled for full access to the mobile network.

• New call center to help taxpayers with immediate answers to taxpayer questions with frequently asked questions, tutorials, videos, etc.

• The new online tax payment system on the new portal will later be enabled with many new payment options such as UPI, Net Banking, NEFT, RTGS, and other methods.

Potential Benefits of the New ITR e-filing Portal

The following benefits can be availed through the new ITR filing portal, which is as follows:

• Quick Processing of Returns & Refunds

It is expected that the ITRs filed will reach the Central Processing Center expeditiously, and taxpayers will receive prompt notifications and subsequently, refunds will also be generated immediately.

• Improved Dashboard

The new portal is expected to have a user-friendly and improved dashboard that will display the action taken by the taxpayer. This will remind the taxpayer of the compliance required from him, thus motivating him to complete compliance.

• Simplified ITR Preparation Software

Pre-filled tax returns based on previous years' data, along with detailed instructions, can help taxpayers fill the forms without any hassle.

Conclusion

During the period in which the existing Income Tax Portal will not be operational and available (June 1 to June 6), the Income Tax Department will not fix any compliance dates to inconvenience taxpayers. The new ITR filing portal will be launched on June 7, 2021, and a hearing of cases or compliances will be scheduled from June 10 so that taxpayers can be familiar with the new mechanism of the portal.