
Many taxpayers took to social media to vent their frustration as they faced repeated issues while filing their income tax returns (ITRs) for Assessment Year 2025-26. Netizens complained that the ITR portal was down and servers were "dead." Many also criticised the government for extending the due date for ITR filing by just one day, despite ongoing glitches.
"Wow! CBDT extended ITR deadline by 1 whole day, Just to check if their useless portal works for the next 24 hours. What an achievement... what a shame," a social media user posted in X.
Meanwhile, an X account urged the government to consider the extension for a few more days. "We are Profesionals not a beggar 🙏," the post read.
Another user called for intervention by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming on Monday that the ITR portal “has not been working since 4 days and it's Dead Today!”
One even compared ITR e-filing to IRCTC Tatkal booking. "Most of the year: #IRCTC is terrible. Tatkal booking never works, the site performance sucks. On the ITR filing deadline: #ITR e-filing site sucks. It doesn’t work. Look at IRCTC, how well it handles the Tatkal traffic thrown at it! 😂"
One user explained why most people are demanding an ITR filing deadline extension. He wrote, “Most people are not asking for an extension because they wake up at the last minute — they’re asking because the portal simply does not work properly. People have jobs, responsibilities, and deadlines beyond this. They can’t afford to sit idle for hours just hoping the portal will load.”
A user also alleged that "the Infosys-run e-filing portal crashed under load—logins failed, payments broke, filings froze. Taxpayers call it a mockery, not a relief."
Similar issues continued on Tuesday (September 16), with users reporting similar problems. "And still it is the same, even after the maintenance of the site. Then what is the purpose of extending one more day. I cannot go to the next step from this page. Help me to sort out this issue," one person said.
Amid the backlash, a fake tweet surfaced on social media, falsely claiming that US President Donald Trump had slammed India's ITR filing system.
The Income Tax Department on Monday extended the deadline for filing income tax returns (ITRs) for Assessment Year (AY) 2025-26 by one day to September 16.
The e-filing portal faced huge traffic on Monday, which was the last date for filing ITRs for AY 2025-26. Monday was also the last date for payment of the second quarterly instalment of advance tax for the ongoing fiscal year.
A record over 7.3 crore ITRs were filed till September 15, surpassing last year's 7.28 crore, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a post on X.