New Delhi, July 31 (KNN) Keeping in view the difficulties being faced by taxpayers, the Income Tax Department has extended the last date for filing returns this year till August 5, 2017.

In a tweet, the IT Department said, “In view of the difficulties faced by taxpayers, date for filing of Income Tax Returns for FY 2016-17 has been extended to 5th August, 2017.”

The original deadline for filing income tax returns for FY 2016-17 (AY 2017-18) was July 31, 2017.

The extension is a welcome relief for a large number of tax payers struggling to meet the deadline in the face of various problems.

This year there have been multiple changes while filing returns including: Requirement of linking PAN with Aadhaar, compulsory quoting of Aadhaar in tax returns, receiving TDS certificates late (as compared to earlier years) from employers and other deductors and chartered accountants being busy with GST.

Further, the income tax department's e-filing website has been running erratic and also seen shut downs (of several hours) for maintenance over the last fortnight.