The Income Tax Department has launched the new e-filing website for Income Tax Returns (ITRs) on Monday, June 7, 2021. The new e-filing portal can be accessed at http://www.incometax.gov.in. It comes with new features which are expected to make the ITR process much smoother and faster.
Ahead of the launch of the new portal, the existing portal http://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in was not available to taxpayers for six days from June 1-6, 2021. “New tax payment system will be launched on June 18, 2021, after the advance tax installment date to avoid any taxpayer inconvenience. The mobile app will also be released after the initial launch of the portal to enable taxpayers to get familiar with the various features,” the finance ministry statement said.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Finance issued a press statement listing the new features and changes in the upcoming Income Tax portal:
● New taxpayer-friendly portal integrated with immediate processing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) to issue quick refunds to taxpayers.
● All interactions and uploads or pending actions will be displayed on a single dashboard for follow-up action by the taxpayer.
● Free of cost ITR preparation software available with interactive questions to help taxpayers for ITRs 1, 4 (online and offline) and ITR 2 (offline) to begin with; Facility for preparation of ITRs 3, 5, 6, 7 will be made available shortly.
● Taxpayers will be able to proactively update their profile to provide specific income details, including salary, house property, business/profession, which will be used in pre-filling their ITR. Detailed enablement of pre-filling with salary income, interest, dividend, and capital gains will be available after TDS and SFT statements are -uploaded.
● New call center for taxpayer assistance for quick response to taxpayer queries. Detailed FAQs, User Manuals, Videos, and chatbot/live agent also provided.
● Functionalities for filing Income Tax Forms, Add tax professionals, Submit responses to Notices in Faceless Scrutiny or Appeals would be available.
