The Finance Ministry today said the facility of online filing of income tax returns has been restored after procuring security certification for the Income Tax Department's website.

"The security certification of the Income Tax department's Internet portal, which had lapsed on 8th May 2010, has been renewed. The e-filing facility for AY 2010-11 has now been restored," an official release said.

It further said that taxpayers can now e-file income tax returns for AY 2010-11 without any difficulty.

Yesterday, the Finance Ministry said it had temporarily suspended the facility for e-filing of income tax returns, as it could not procure a security certification for the Income Tax Department's website in time.

The security certification, which is provided by specialised agencies, indicates that adequate safeguards have been taken to protect data from unauthorised access.

The government had introduced the system for mandatory filing of income tax returns by corporates in electronic format from assessment year 2006-07.