Mumbai, Sep 15: As the extended deadline for income tax return (ITR) filing ends on Monday, filers are hurrying to comply, with more than 1 crore returns anticipated on the final day.

As of now, 6.29 crore returns have been filed for the assessment year (AY) 2025–26.

Last year, ITR filings grew 7.5 per cent year-on-year, and assuming a similar pace, the number could touch 7.8 crore this year. The growth trend has been steady — 6.77 crore returns were filed in AY 2023–24, 5.82 crore in AY 2022–23, and 5.77 crore in AY 2021–22.

Tax experts caution that this year's challenges are intensified by the September 15 deadline for the second installment of advance tax, placing a dual burden on taxpayers and professionals.

Chartered accountants and tax lawyers have said that even with a fully operational portal, the clustering of deadlines would still put a strain on filers.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) officials have maintained that the system is stable and attributed most issues to browser-related glitches at the user's end. The portal processed a record 70 lakh returns in one day last year.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax Department on Sunday refuted reports which claimed that the date of filing tax return has been extended to September 30.

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To assist taxpayers for ITR filing, tax payment and other related services, “our help desk is functioning on a 24x7 basis, and we are providing support through calls, live chats, WebEx sessions and Twitter/X,” it added.

In May, the IT department 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.

(IANS)

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