KSCAA writes to PM: Urgent Need to Extend Tax Filing Deadlines Amid Portal Challenges

The Karnataka State Chartered Accountants Association (R), representing over 4,200 Chartered Accountants in Karnataka, sent a representation to the Prime Minister regarding extension of tax audit and ITR deadlines, highlighting disruptions to compliance processes, underlining technical issues faced on the Income Tax e-filing portal The association confirmed its support for tax changes and promised to help make tax processes clear and efficient

The KSCAA further emphasised that despite multiple representations from professionals, judicial directions, and previous partial extensions, the major issues remain unresolved. As a result, taxpayers continue to face unnecessary stress and risk penalties.

KSCAA submits the following challenges faced by its members and taxpayers across the country:

1. Delayed release of schema and utility

For Assessment Year (AY) 2025–26, the Income Tax Return (ITR) and audit form schemas were released much later than usual. The table below shows how long the delay has been.

Below is the list of other forms and their release dates:

2. Insufficient Awareness and Guidance on Updated Forms

The authorities haven’t clearly explained the changes made to the official forms. Because of this, many taxpayers and professionals are confused and making mistakes while filing, causing additional time to collect the documents and details.

3. persistent issues on the portal

The Income Tax e-filing portal is often unstable and has created many problems for thousands of taxpayers and professionals across the country. Here are some important issues they face regularly-

• Login errors

Taxpayers and professionals have repeatedly experienced login failures during peak filing hours, often encountering “Server Error” or “Session Timeout” messages.

• Repeated maintenance during peak hours

The portal has faced unexpected maintenance and downtime during important filing periods, which has greatly reduced the time available for compliance.

• Inability to file critical supporting forms

Taxpayers and professionals have forced repeated failures in filing essential forms on which the return depends, including Form 67, 10IE, and others.

• Payment Failures

Challans debited by banks often fail to reflect on the portal, preventing accurate acknowledgement of tax payments.

• AIS Download Failures

Taxpayers and professionals have experienced major errors while downloading the Annual Information Statement (AIS).

• Upload and Validation Errors

Even when returns and forms are filled out correctly, they often fail validation. This leads to continuous submission attempts, wasting time and increasing the chances of mistakes or late filings.

• E-verification Errors

During the verification process, taxpayers faced many e-verifications errors including blank screens or significant OTP delays, preventing successful completion of return filings.

• Helpline Ineffectiveness

The helpline has proved ineffective due to delays in providing even basic resolutions, leaving users stranded during critical filing periods.

• Ineffective Extensions

From September 14, 2025, the portal remained largely inaccessible for the majority of the day. Multiple stakeholders had requested a realistic extension until September 30, 2025. However, only a one-day extension was announced late on September 15, 2025 at 11:50 PM.

• Poor Scheduling of Critical Deadlines

Tax administration has shown a clear lack of foresight by scheduling two critical due dates on the same day, i.e., income tax return and advance tax payment.

• Blocking of Static IP Addresses

Professionals noticed that only one system could access the portal, while others were unable to do so in some offices.

• Sudden Blocking of APIS and Third-Party Access

Unexpected blocking of AIPS and Third-Party Access caused significant operational chaos, forcing users to resort to manual alternatives under tight timelines.

KSCAA also pointed out several disadvantages in the Department’s e-filing utilities. While they are functional, these tools have key limitations that make compliance more difficult. Unlike third-party software, they lack features to support accurate and timely filings

All of these issues have been reported in the media and have caused major distress and difficulty for taxpayers across the country. The KSCAA also highlighted these concerns in their earlier communications, but no improvements have been seen so far. In their representation dated September 10, 2025 (Ref. No. 001/2025-26) to the Hon’ble Union Finance Minister, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, they detailed the portal glitches, compliance challenges, and the urgent need for timely release of forms and utilities.

4. Violations of the Taxpayers’ Charter

The following points highlight the Department’s failures to adhere to its Charter commitments:

• Fair, Courteous, and Reasonable Treatment
• Complete and Accurate Information
• Timely Decisions
• Collect Only the Correct Amount
• Respect Privacy and Due Process
• Hold Authorities Accountable
• Fair and Just System
• Reduce Cost of Compliance

KSCAA urges that the deadline for filing Income Tax Returns currently on October 31, 2025, be extended to December 31, 2025. Consequently, the due dates for filing tax audit reports, trust audit reports, and other related forms, which presently fall on September 3, 2025, may be extended by two months up to November 3, 2025.

This extension would provide taxpayers and professionals with adequate and reasonable time to finish audits and prepare accurate filings.