Many taxpayers as reported on social media, faced technical issues while filing their income tax return on Saturday, ahead of the July 31 deadline. With more people rushing to file their ITR as the deadline nears, and a significant increase in the number of tax filers expected, the possibility of the portal experiencing additional glitches can not be entirely ruled out. Going by the previous years experiences such glitches often result in delays or failures in ITR submission.
When taxpayers faced similar technical glitches last year, the Income Tax (I-T) Department extended the ITR filing deadline not once but twice, from July 31 to September 15 and then to September 16. Is it possible for them to do the same this year by pushing back the July 31 ITR filing deadline?
Who needs to file ITR by July 31, 2026
The July 31 deadline for filing income tax returns (ITRs) applies to salaried individuals, pensioners, students and others who don’t need to undergo a tax audit . This year, the tax filing process for a lot of taxpayers is smoother compared to earlier years thanks to the Income Tax Department (I-T) working to fix technical glitches. Plus, they released the tax forms for AY 2026-2027 a lot earlier than last year (AY 2025-2026), which helps spread out the load on the ITR e-filing system over a longer period.
Also, the deadline for filing ITR-3 and ITR-4 forms, which are generally submitted by those with business or professional income or those opting for presumptive taxation schemes, is August 31, 2026, as announced in Budget 2026. Still, many ITR filers are still reporting glitches they are facing on the ITR portal.
