Question : New Income Tax Portal

(a) the total amount of income tax collected for the year March 2020-April 2021;
(b) whether the Government has created a new income tax portal and if so, the amount spent on creating the said portal;
(c) the names of firms and companies to which this work was allocated and the quantum of amount paid for this purpose;
(d) whether income tax prayers are facing many technical difficulties while filing return on the said portal like logging in and failure to view past e-filed return despite spending crores of rupees on this and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(e) whether the Government proposes to fix responsibility regarding taking any action against the same and if so, the details thereof; and
(f) whethe the Income Tax Department has set any time limit for resolving the problems at the earliest related to income tax e-filing portal launched recently and if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY)

(a) The below collection figure for 14 months received from NSDL is placed below:-

OLTAS Challan Collections for 14 months received during the Period 01.03.2020 to 30.04.2021 (March 20 to April 21)

Major Head Code Gross Collection
(In Crores)
0020-CORPORATION TAX 8,04,651.9
0021-INCOME TAX 6,69,077.4
0023-HOTEL RECEIPTS TAX 0.4
0024-INTEREST TAX 3.1
0026-FRINGE BENEFITS TAX 9.0
0028-OTHER TAXES ON INCOME AND EXPENDITURE 7.2
0031- ESTATE DUTY 0.4
0032- WEALTH TAX 15.9
0033-GIFT TAX 1.5
0034-SECURITIES TRANSACTION TAX 21,022.3
0036-BANKING CASH TRANSACTION TAX 0.0
0045- Other Taxes and Duties on Commodities and Services 2,363.3
Grand Total 14,97,152.4

(b) Yes, the Government has launched a new income tax e-filing portal as part of the Integrated E-filing and Centralized Processing Centre 2.0 Project. The Union Cabinet gave its approval on 16/01/2019 for this project at an outlay of Rs. 4,241.97 Cr for a total period of 8.5 years including payout to the Managed Service Provider (MSP), GST, rent, postage and project management cost. Since January 2019 till June 2021, the total amount paid to M/s Infosys Ltd is Rs. 164.5 Cr under this project.

(c) The contract for integrated E-filing & Centralized Processing Centre (CPC 2.0) Project was awarded through an open tender published on Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) to M/s Infosys Ltd the Managed Service Provider on the lowest cost basis (L-1). Since January 2019 till June 2021, the total amount paid to M/s Infosys is Rs 164.5 Cr under this project.

(d) Taxpayers, tax professionals and other stakeholders have reported glitches in the functioning of the new portal. Issues experienced by tax payers pertain to slowness of the portal, non availability of certain functionalities or technical issues in functionalities.

(e) Infosys has acknowledged the technical issues in the functioning of the portal. The Income Tax Department is continuously engaged with Infosys to expedite the resolution of any pending issues. The project is governed by the contract between the Income Tax Department and M/s Infosys Ltd in respect of any glitches impacting the terms and conditions of the contract.

(f) Infosys has informed that technical issues noticed in the functioning of the portal are continuously being resolved. Some of the initial issues experienced by tax payers regarding slowness of the portal, non-availability of certain functionalities or technical issues in functionalities have been mitigated. The Department is taking corrective measures through Infosys based on feedback from taxpayers, tax professionals and representatives of ICAI.

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