Tax deadline September 15 stays amid portal delays

The deadline to file income tax returns for the 2024-25 financial year fell on Monday, September 15, as millions of taxpayers raced to submit returns amid reports of portal slowdowns and renewed calls from professional bodies for another extension. The Income Tax Department urged taxpayers to file immediately, saying its helpdesk was operating round the clock and noting that millions of returns had already been filed.

The department posted on its social media account on Saturday that more than six crore returns had been submitted for assessment year 2025-26, and by Monday it said the tally had topped seven crore as the cutoff neared. Those figures vary by date and snapshot, with earlier counts during the week ranging between about 5.4 crore and 6.3 crore, reflecting the rapid pace of last-minute filings, officials and portal data showed.

The September 15 deadline had itself been an extension from the normal July 31 date after substantial revisions to ITR forms and filing utilities were required following tax changes announced last year. Nevertheless, several chartered accountant groups, tax bar associations and some Members of Parliament urged the finance ministry and the...