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Finance Ministry Reviews Income Tax Portal With Infosys Chief

Finance Ministry reviewed the performance of the new income tax e-filing portal on Thursday
Finance Ministry reviewed the performance of the new income tax e-filing portal on Thursday

Even as more than 3.5 crore income tax returns (ITRs) have been filed on the new e-filing portal of the department, after it had faced glitches earlier this year soon after its launch in June, top finance ministry officials reviewed its performance on Thursday along with Infosys managing director Salil Parekh.

After the portal had faced technical issues, finance ministry had asked Infosys, which manages the platform, to address the problems on top priority.

Infosys has developed the new income tax e-filing portal, 'www.incometax.gov.in'.

In a statement on Thursday, the finance ministry said that Revenue Secretary in the ministry Tarun Bajaj along with other senior officials held a review meeting regarding the portal with Mr Parekh.

As briefed by Infosys, various steps have been taken, including augmentation of the technical infrastructure and setting up of a dedicated war room to monitor the performance of the portal, it said.

According to the statement, Infosys has assured the ministry about its preparedness to ensure a smooth filing season to instill confidence among the taxpayers.

"As on December 15, 3.59 crore ITRs have been filed on the new e-filing portal. The number of ITRs filed per day has crossed 6 lakh and increasing everyday as the extended due date of December 31, 2021 is approaching," the statement said.

Nearly 52 per cent of these ITRs have been filed using the online ITR form on the portal and the balance have been uploaded using the ITR created from the offline software utilities, the statement said.

The ministry also said that it was encouraging to note that 3.11 crore returns have been e-verified and out of them, more than 2.69 crore were through Aadhaar-based one time password (OTP).

The process of e-verification through Aadhaar-based OTP and other methods is important for the department to commence processing of the ITR and to issue refunds, if any.