The Goods and Services Tax (GST) portal was taken offline for “scheduled maintenance” early Tuesday morning — right in the middle of India’s busiest tax filing period.
According to a notice displayed on the GST website, services were unavailable from 12:00 AM to 6:00 AM on October 28, 2025, citing enhancement work on the system.
While the downtime was scheduled for six hours, users expressed frustration over the timing, given that October 31 marks the crucial deadline for tax audit and return filings under the Income Tax Act.
The move comes just days after the TRACES/26AS portal also faced downtime, leaving tax professionals grappling with technical bottlenecks during the final compliance stretch.
“Peak tax audit season चल रहा है, और पोर्टल maintenance में डाल दिया — यही समय मिला क्या?” remarked one chartered accountant on social media, reflecting the sentiment of hundreds of professionals working round the clock to meet statutory deadlines.
Tax experts argue that such maintenance schedules during critical filing periods reflect a lack of coordination between the GSTN (Goods and Services Tax Network) and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). “Every year, taxpayers and CAs face the same ordeal — slow servers, system crashes, and unannounced downtimes,” said a Mumbai-based tax practitioner.
Many professionals have urged the Finance Ministry to plan technical upgrades in a staggered manner or during non-peak months to prevent disruption of compliance work.
Despite repeated assurances of improved digital infrastructure under GST 2.0 reforms, system reliability during high-traffic periods continues to be a major pain point for India’s tax ecosystem.
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