The income tax department has declared the temporary suspension of e filing of returns due to the expiration of the security certificate of its website. The certificate expired on 8th of May 2010.

A security certificate is installed so as to ensure the authenticity of data as well as information on the website and also to protect information given by customers from the hands of phishers. Such a certificate ensures transactions in an encrypted form. Encryption makes information readable only to the authorized personnel and for the rest it appears as a jumbled set of characters.

The department had earlier sent out warning against phishing e- mails.

The department has clearly specified that it had started the renewal process of the security certificate well before the expiration date.

"Pending completion of certification procedure, the e-filing facility for AY (assessment year) 2010-11 has been temporarily suspended. This will not affect taxpayers in any way, as the earliest income-tax return for AY 2010-11 falls due on 31 July 2010. The facility is expected to be renewed very shortly," the department said in a press release.

It also added that, "the e-filing portal of the income-tax department remains fully secure, and lapse of the security certificate does not mean that its security features are slackened or compromised".

According to a senior official from Entrust, the company which had previously issued the security certificate said that the process of renewal of the certificate has been completed.

"Taxpayers will not be affected in any way," the I-T department said in the release.