Even after spending ₹4,200 cr, govt created a mess: Tharoor on I-T portal

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday criticised the Centre over glitches in the new income tax (I-T) portal, alleging that even after spending ₹4,200 crore on it, the government had “failed” to make it user-friendly and created a “mess” instead.

Tharoor, president of the All India Professionals’ Congress, said chartered accountants in the organisation have informed him that the changes to the portal have been disastrous.

Almost all features of the new portal are non-operational, so ITR (income tax return) filing, 15 CA/CB forms, data preparation for appeals has ground to a halt, the former minister said. “Not clear why the government chose to change the income tax portal in June. Would have been wiser just before the end of the financial year or the start of the next one, so that taxpayers eligible for income-tax refund could have received help in these difficult times,” Tharoor said.

Tharoor asked what was the need for a new income tax portal when the old portal was running smoothly for years and why was the portal switched at peak time, when income tax payers usually file their returns and claim refunds. “The rationale for a new portal is to provide a more user-friendly, modern and seamless experience to users. However, even after spending ₹4,200 cr on its renovation, the Govt has failed to attain the objective & created a mess instead,” he said in a series of tweets.

This is a replay of the chaos with the GST portal, Tharoor added.

Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said the Centre has already flagged concerns in the new portal with Infosys officials.

“A few days ago, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took a meeting with the Infosysofficials where she asked them to fix all the glitches in the new I-T portal as soon as possible. Income tax officials are in regular touch with the team to work on all shortcomings. Daily, at least for two hours, income tax officials sit with Infosys team and work on the issues,” said Thakur.