A
taxpayer faces issues in using the Digital Signature Certificate at the time of
uploading her Income Tax Return.
Taxpayers
had recently reported that they faced issues in using the Digital Signature
Certificate at the time of uploading their Income Tax Returns.
“This
is because the latest browser versions have started disabling the standard way
in which they support plug-in functions to address security,” the Central Board
of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.
Hence,
the Java applet that was used by the e-filing website “would not work” in the
latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla or Internet Explorer, it said.
“In
order to address this issue and to simplify the procedure for uploading Income
Tax return (ITR) with Digital Signature Certificate (DSC), an easy to use
software utility has been developed which would have to be downloaded in
taxpayer’s computer and used for signing using Digital Signature Certificate,”
the CBDT said.
India
is among the select band of nations that has a digital signature legislation in
place. This act grants digital signatures that have been issued by a licensed
certifying authority the same status as physical signatures.
E-filing
of returns witnessed a jump of 27.22 per cent in the first nine months of the
ongoing fiscal.
A
total of 3.09 crore returns were electronically filed during April to December
period as against 2.43 crore in the nine-month period last fiscal, according to
the latest figures of the Income-Tax Department.
In
2014-15, a total of 3.41 crore returns were filed electronically.
PTI