It was communicated by ICAI members that in cases where the original return has been treated as invalid by virtue of the provisions of section 139(9), the income tax portal is not accepting the new return being filed either as original return or belated return. The assessees were facing genuine difficulty as there being no other option in the filing status applicable in such cases.
Considering the difficulty being faced, the Direct Taxes Committee of ICAI had suggested Income tax Department vide a representation dated 06.03.2017 that the business rule be modified so as to term the original return as ‘invalid’ as soon as the period of 15 days or more as permitted by AO under section 139(9) expires. This will enable furnishing of such return as original returns being filed belatedly under section 139(4).
The said request has been favourably considered by the Income tax Department. The E-filing utility has been enhanced and the facility of E-Filing such returns u/s 139(4) has been deployed on 10.3.2017. Hence, for the returns which have been made “Invalid” by CPC, a fresh return (belated) may be filed u/s 139(4), provided that the time mentioned in that section is available.
Note : Returns for AY 2015-16 have got time barred on 31-03-2017 due to faulty business rules in Income Tax site. This issue should also be addressed by Income Tax Department at earliest.