ITR filing in Jeopardy until ITR Filing Due Dates Update in Utility: Rs. 5000 Late Fees, CAs, Tax Practitioners frown over Income Tax Portal Issue
ITR Filing Stumbles as ₹5,000 Late-Fee Pops Up Weeks before Deadline, CAs Cry Foul over Income-Tax Portal Glitch
Chartered accountants and tax preparers across the country were jolted on 1 August 2025 when the Income-Tax Return (ITR) utility, both online and offline, began auto-levying a ₹5,000 late-filing fee under Section 234F, even though the statutory deadline for non-audit cases has been pushed back to 15 September 2025.
The anomaly was first flagged on X (formerly Twitter) by Jaipur-based practitioner CA Sumit Sharma, who posted a screenshot showing “Fee u/s 234F: ₹ 5000” while the interest columns under Sections 234B and 234C remained at zero. His blunt query, “Why this late fees for 5000?? What is due date of ITR??”, quickly gathered traction among professionals.
https://x.com/ca_sumitsharma/status/1951155834676777358
The portal appears to be reading the original 31 July cutoff instead of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extension issued in May, which granted individual taxpayers an extra six weeks to file their FY 2024-25 (AY 2025-26) returns.([The Times of India][1]) Because the system regards any post-July return as belated, it is automatically inserting the maximum Section 234F charge of ₹5,000 for incomes above ₹5 lakh.
Tax Planning For Trusts and cooperation Societies - CLICK HERE
Scores of chartered accountants chimed in beneath Sharma’s post. User @Ask2Vipul advised colleagues to “let the utility update… 2–4 din lagega”, while Saumya Agarwal warned taxpayers “do not pay the late fee… wait for a bug fix.” Several users reported parallel glitches weeks earlier, when the utility wrongly computed Section 234C interest for salaried individuals exempt from advance tax.
Responding from its verified handle, @IncomeTaxIndia asked Sharma to submit details via a help-desk link, promising that the team would “get in touch,” but it did not specify when the patch would roll out. Meanwhile, filing through the online mode remains risky: once the fee is auto-populated it cannot be zeroed out manually, leaving taxpayers with a stark choice between postponing submission or paying money they do not legally owe.
Under Section 234F, a late fee of up to ₹5,000 becomes payable only after the due date lapses; if total income is up to ₹5 lakh, the maximum fee is capped at ₹1,000.
Step by Step Guide of Preparing Company Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss Account CLICK HERE
With 45 days still left before the deadline, practitioners fear the glitch could spur erroneous payments, tie up refunds, or trigger adjustment notices later in the assessment cycle.
Some advisers suggest downloading the Excel utility released on 30 July, reported by CA Naveen Sharma to be free of the bug, while others counsel patience until the central portal itself is patched. Sector observers note that such last-minute technology hiccups have become a recurring theme since the portal’s 2021 overhaul, underscoring the need for rigorous pre-deployment testing.
Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
