E-filing portal upgrade: 6 steps taken by CBDT to prepare for peak ITR filing period

However, in its replies to multiple taxpayers, the tax department has maintained that the e-filing portal is working fine.

With just five days remaining until the filing deadline for filing ITR-1 and ITR-2, taxpayers may experience brief lags on the e-filing portal due to a last-minute rush of return filing.

In a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha recently, the Union Minister of State for Finance, [Pankaj Chaudhary](ITR filing deadline extension: Govt says penalty imposed on managed service provider in FY26), said, "CBDT has taken a series of technical and structural remediation measures to further strengthen the infrastructure of the e-Filing portal ahead of the peak filing period."

6 steps by CBDT

Chaudhary also shared the following six steps taken for the CBDT to prepare the e-filing portal for the peak filing period:

1)The e-Filing ecosystem has been comprehensively strengthened and performance tested to support peak filing volumes, with validated capacity to handle up to 1 crore ITRs per day, ensuring sufficient headroom beyond the projected peak demand.

2)Infrastructure capacity has been enhanced across compute, storage, memory, network, and bandwidth. Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)-recommended hardware and software upgrades, along with storage augmentation, have been implemented to improve overall system stability, resilience, and input/output performance.

3)Major infrastructure issues identified during the earlier ITR filing seasons have been rectified.

4)A robust monitoring and governance framework has been established, inter alia, comprising 24×7 infrastructure monitoring, a dedicated WarRoom, and coordinated participation of application, infrastructure, database, network, security, vendor, and stakeholder teams to enable proactive monitoring and rapid incident resolution.

5)Security infrastructure has been upgraded with the latest firewall versions, enhanced prevention mechanisms for Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack and bot attack, and improved coordination with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to enhance protection against cyber threats during the peak filing period.

6)End-to-end operational readiness has been reinforced through coordinated preparedness with key external stakeholders, including UIDAI, Banks, RBI, CDSL, NSDL, ICAI, ERIs and relevant internal verticals, supported by structured governance, escalation mechanisms, and continuous readiness reviews to ensure uninterrupted service delivery during the ITR filing season.

"Review of system performance on a real-time basis is an ongoing process, and the Government remains committed for a smooth taxpayer experience," Chaudhary said.