Difficulties in E-filing of forms.

[DEV KUMAR KOTHARI]

Difficulties in E-filing of forms.  Feature  of defective form accepted with facility to remove defect can be introduced. 

Difficulty experienced  to find out link for form 35

It is difficult to find out link for form 35. There were three  columns for selection of forms. In three columns links provided for various forms is not properly classified. For example author could not find form 35 under columns Persons with Business/Professional Income, and Persons without Business/Professional Income.

In search facility form 35 could not be traced.

Surprisingly form 35 was placed under column with heading “ Persons” not dependent on any Source of Income (Source of Income not relevant)” .

Author and many other senior professional will  never imagine that form 35 can be under the Persons not dependent on any Source of Income(Source of Income not relevant).

If word ‘Form’ in place of persons was used, perhaps it could strike in mind that form 35 can be under this heading. Filing of Form 35 can be and many times on disputes related with head of income. Therefore, placement of Form 35 in this column is not proper.

Forms are not arranged serially:

Forms are not arranged serially and forms cannot be accessed randomly. You need to go in drop list to find out desired form you have to fill in. In search on the relevant page for other forms  also form 35 could not be searched.

Form does not get completed unless mandatory requirements are met:

There are various mandatory requirements, if that is not met form cannot be filed. For example , Demand notice is to be attached, in case demand notice is not available as it is not served or is not traceable on website and other records, form 35 will not be completed and one cannot file appeal.

 In some cases only orders have been served by email and order and demand notice are not available in portal also.

Without putting a land line phone number, Form 35 could not be completed.

Old, manual ROI acknowledgement number not accepted:

For old  ITR or  when ROI was filed manually, acknowledgment number were hand written or serial number was put through numbering machine. These numbers are not in present format of computerized acknowledgement. On filling in number found on acknowledgement it was not accepted with reason / error invalid format of ARN.

It is recalled that in case of appeal against assessment order which was filed about two years ago online, old acknowledgment number was accepted and appeal was filed. But in course of filing appeal against penalty order relevant to the same case, old manual ROI acknowledgment number was not accepted and form could not be completed.

So appeal could not be filled in and filed due to various reasons.

There can be many reasons for failure in filling and uploading forms:

Above are just few difficulties experienced while filing Form 35. There can be many other difficulties in other cases and other forms. 

Grievances to be lodged:

In case one find difficulty in filling and uploading any form, and it could not be filed then it is advisable to lodge a grievance while keeping draft of form saved on portal and taking print also as evidence that efforts were made to file the Form. This will be useful to support application for condonation of delay in filing of form, as and when it can be filed after obtaining necessary information or documents or correction of  features on ITD website.

For example some grievances lodged for difficulty in filing forms lodged are follows:

I am unable to submit rectification petitions for AY 2012-13 for rectification of orders us 143.3 and order us 271F.

Demands for AY 2012-13 are not shown so I am unable to send fresh responses.

in FILING OF FORM 35 FOR APPEAL AGAINST PENALTY US 271F I FOUND MANY DIFFICULTIES LIKE ROI FOR AY 2012-13 WAS FILED PHYSICALLY AND ACK NO. IS 1999 this NUMBER is not accepted REASON INVALID FORMT FOR ARN. Although when I filed Form 35 against assessment order few years ago, online it was accepted.

 Landline phone number is mandatory but many assessees do not have any landline number.

WITHOUT ATTACHMENT SOME DETAILS ARE NOT ACCEPTED BECAUSE DOCUMENT IS MANDATORY WHEREAS THERE IS NO RELEVANCE FOR ANY DOCUMENT In such situation how to fill up AND UPLOAD FORM 35 UNABLE TO UPLOAD FORM 35 PLEASE ALLOW TIME FOR SUBMISSION

 I have to file appeal for AY 2012-13 against order us 271F. form 35 remains incomplete due to following reasons Details of tax paid require ROI ITR fling number. it was physically fled at Office of xxxxx  , Range xxx   on 06.08.2012 and number mentioned in 1999. However, this number is not accepted in form 35.

How can I give some other number. The order us 271F was received in email but any demand notice has not been received. In portal any notices and orders for AY 2012-13 is not found. In absence of demand notice I am unable to complete form 35. Just as a try I attached demand notice issued at the time of assessment, it has been attached but it is wrong and I cannot submit. When demand notice is not issued wrongly demanded penalty ₹ 5000 is not collectible by department as I read on some websites. However, I have uncertainties and therefore want to file an  appeal. Please accept form 35 without demand notice as it has not been served on me. and accept manual fling number of ITR because it is an old case of AY 2012-13 when ROI was fled physically

Suggestion:

Similar and many other  problems are being faced while filling other forms also.

There must be provision and facility to allow filling in and saving of pages even if some mandatory requirements are not met. In such cases remarks can be added. For example when Demand notice is not served, it can be mentioned and appeal can be filed. Demand notice can be uploaded later on, if served. Alternatively one can dare and assesse / appellant can plead that relevant order is no longer effective because demand notice was not served in time but that can involve another litigations.

In case in hand acknowledgment number of ROI was 1999  which was filed on say 12.06.2012. The Form 35 could not be completed with this information.

In case the acknowledgment of ROI is not in present style, there should be option to mention number as it is, this can be with option like

“ you can file appeal now with available information and document, pending information and documents can be provided later on.  

So concept of defective appeal can be introduced with facility to remove defect later on. Some defects like  lack of landline number should not be considered a defect.

All forms should be reviewed and practical aspects should be incorporated so that there is no difficulty in filling in and filing of forms.