Income Tax Department switches on 24x7 helpline for the final ITR filing week
From 8 am on 25 July until midnight on 31 July, e-filing and CPC support lines will run round the clock to help last-minute filers with login issues and portal glitches.
With the 31 July 2026 deadline for ITR-1 and ITR-2 filers now just six days away, the Income Tax Department has switched its e-filing and Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) helplines to 24x7 support. The round-the-clock window runs from 8:00 am on 25 July to 11:59 pm on 31 July 2026.
What the helpline covers
The extended support is meant to help taxpayers who run into trouble filing at the last minute — things like:
- Login and OTP issues on the e-filing portal
- Portal glitches during return submission or upload
- e-Verification problems after a return is filed
- General queries on ITR-1 and ITR-2 forms
Filing pace this year has been running behind previous seasons — only around 1.97 crore returns had been filed as of mid-July, well short of the roughly 7-crore mark reached by the same point last year — so the department is bracing for a heavy last-week rush and has staffed up support accordingly.
No extension expected
As flagged in earlier updates, this year’s ITR-1 and ITR-4 utilities were live from May 2026, months ahead of the deadline — unlike past years when late utility releases forced an extension. Tax professionals continue to caution filers not to assume the 31 July date will move.
What to do this week
- Don’t wait till the last day. Portal traffic typically peaks hardest in the final 48 hours, and even with 24x7 support, submission and e-verification can slow down under load.
- Reconcile Form 26AS and AIS before filing to avoid mismatches that can delay processing later.
- Keep e-verification handy — Aadhaar OTP or net banking — since a return is only treated as filed once it’s verified within 30 days.
- Missing the deadline brings a late fee under Section 234F, 1% monthly interest on unpaid tax, loss of the old tax regime option on a belated return, and forfeiture of the right to carry forward most losses.
Check your final tax outgo with the income tax calculator or compare regimes on the old regime tax calculator before you file.
Source: Income Tax Department — e-Campaign notice; Upstox — ITR filing last date: Income tax department to offer 24x7 support till July 31.
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