ITR Filing in India 2025-26: Forms, Due Dates & Tax Regime

1.  Important Due Dates at a Glance

2.  Which ITR Form Should You Use?

3.  Old Regime vs New Regime , Tax Slabs for FY 2025-26

4.  Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A.  Generally no — but filing is still advisable. If TDS was deducted, if you had foreign travel expenses over ₹2 lakh, or electricity bills over ₹1 lakh in a year, you may be required to file regardless. Filing also helps you claim refunds.

A.  If your income exceeds 5 lakh, a late fee of 5,000 applies under Sec 234F. For income below 5 lakh, the fee is 1,000. You can still file a belated return until 31 December 2026.

A.  It depends on your income source. Salaried individuals without business income can switch every year. Those with business or professional income can switch only once away from the new regime — returning to the old regime means they cannot come back to new.

A.  There's no one-size-fits-all answer. If you have deductions (home loan, 80C, HRA, 80D), the old regime often works out better but in some case regime is better even you have much deduction or investment. The Filing Zone will guide you in this regard.

A.  Yes, from AY 2024-25 onwards, the new regime is the default. If you want to use the old regime, you must explicitly opt for it while filing your ITR — or through Form 10-IEA for business/professional income before the due date.

A.  You will need Form 16, bank statements, capital gains statements from brokers, home loan interest certificate, proof of investments (80C, 80D etc.) and your PAN & Aadhaar linked to your account.

A.  AIS stands for Annual Information Statement which shows all financial transactions linked to your PAN: salary, interest income, dividend, capital gains, foreign remittances, GST data, and more. It's available on the income tax portal and helps verify your ITR entries.

A.  Yes. You can file a revised return under Sec 139(5) to correct mistakes. The revised return can be filed any time before 31 December 2026 for AY 2026-27. There's no penalty for revising — but you can only revise an original return, not a belated one.

A.  Under the new regime, salaried individuals and pensioners get a standard deduction of ₹75,000. Under the old regime, the standard deduction remains ₹50,000. This deduction directly reduces your gross salary before computing tax.

A.  If your total tax liability for the year (after TDS) exceeds ₹10,000, you must pay advance tax in four instalments: 15% by June 15, 45% by Sept 15, 75% by Dec 15, and 100% by March 15. Salaried employees usually have this covered through employer TDS.

A.  After 31 December 2026, you cannot file a return for AY 2026-27 voluntarily.. You also lose the ability to carry forward losses (except house property losses).

A.  After filing your ITR, you need to verify your ITR within 30 days of filing. You can verify using Aadhaar OTP (most common), Net Banking, Bank ATM, DEMAT account, or by sending a signed ITR-V to CPC Bengaluru. If you do not e verify, ITR is invalid.

A.  Gifts from specified relatives (parents, spouse, siblings) are fully exempt under Sec 56(2). So ₹10 lakh from parents is not taxable. However, if the gift generates income (like interest), that income is taxable — and you may need to file depending on total income.

A.  Under the new regime, if your net taxable income does not exceed ₹12 lakh, you get a full tax rebate — meaning zero tax payable. Under the old regime, the rebate applies if income is up to ₹5 lakh. Note: this rebate does not apply to special rate income like LTCG on equity.

A.  No. ITR-1 (Sahaj) is only for resident individuals. Before You File — a Quick Checklist