ITR-2 Glitch: Chartered Accountant Flags Major Technical Error in Online Utility

A chartered accountant, Aditi Bhardwaj, has flagged a critical technical glitch in the ITR-2 online utility that could create significant problems for taxpayers. The error, which affects how capital gains and losses are reported, could lead to incorrect filings, triggering automated adjustments under Section 143(1), and potentially causing return rejections.

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The primary issue is an inconsistency between the Brought Forward Loss Adjustment (BFLA) and Carry Forward Loss (CFL) schedules. In a specific instance, a taxpayer’s brought forward loss was correctly shown as fully adjusted in the BFLA schedule but incorrectly appeared as a carried-forward loss in the CFL schedule. This inconsistency is preventing the taxpayer from filing their return.

Further compounding the problem, Bhardwaj noted that the current utility is missing a crucial “Set Off” button that was available in previous years to manually align these adjustments. She also identified a preview error where correct data shown on the working screen is missing from the final PDF version of the return, raising concerns about potential data mismatches.

Experts warn that this error could lead to incorrect carry-forward of losses, affecting future tax set-offs and increasing compliance risks for taxpayers. The Income Tax Department has acknowledged Bhardwaj’s post on X and stated that their team is “looking into this.”