The deadline for filing the Income Tax Returns (ITR) for the assessment year 2026-27 is around the corner. Considering the problems faced by individuals while filing ITRs in the past, CBDT has made improvements to the e-filing system to make it convenient for taxpayers to file their returns. As per the reports from the officials, people will not face any major technical difficulties while filing their returns, as the new system is designed to deal with an increased amount of traffic. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest improvements and what they mean for taxpayers filing their returns this year.
The minister of state for finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, announced that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had updated the Income Tax Portal in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on July 21 during the monsoon session of Parliament. He stated that the e-filing portal has been tested to process up to one crore income tax returns in a single day. Moreover, stating the current numbers, he added that the tested numbers are well above the current number of daily filings and are aimed at avoiding disruptions as the deadline nears.
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Explaining the move, he said that to support the capacity, the department has increased computing power, storage, memory, network infrastructure and internet bandwidth. Not only that but they have also fixed key infrastructure issues that affected taxpayers during earlier filing seasons.
The government also said that the income tax department has set up a 24×7 monitoring system along with a central ‘war room’ to keep track of portal performance and respond quickly if technical issues arise.
Cybersecurity measures have also been strengthened. The department has upgraded firewall systems, improved protection against cyber and bot attacks, and enhanced coordination to keep the portal secure during periods of heavy usage.
The CBDT has worked closely with several organisations linked to the filing process, including UIDAI, RBI, banks, CDSL, NSDL, ICAI and e-Return Intermediaries. The government said this coordination is expected to help ensure uninterrupted services throughout the filing season.
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Portal usage has also increased sharply compared with last year. On July 14 alone, taxpayers filed 12.22 lakh returns, while daily logins reached nearly 99 lakh. Total transactions on the portal, including return filings, challan payments and Form 26AS services, touched around 1.61 crore.
The Finance Ministry also informed Parliament that the managed service provider responsible for developing and maintaining the e-filing portal has been penalised under its contract. The penalties relate to delays in the Income Tax Business Application project, lower service performance, portal outages during the FY2025-26 filing season and filing deadline extensions linked to the service provider. While the government did not name the company, Infosys manages the Income Tax Department’s e-filing portal.