Kolkata: There has been no extension of ITR filing deadlinethis year and today July 31 is the last date for filing tax returns for all resident Indians
who use ITR-1 and ITR-2 forms. In other words, those salaried taxpayers who need not get their accounts audited for tax purposes. If you have procrastinated and not filed your ITR for FY26 so far, there is no reason for panic. Get your documents ready, switch on your computer and start the process. If you have the documents, it will be over in just about 15 minutes, tax professionals tell us. Also if you cross today’s deadline, you can still file your tax returns till December 31 this year but with a late fee which could vary from Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 depending on your annual income level.
Forms are pre-filled
A very large number of income tax payers have migrated to the new tax system which allows a smooth filing of taxes though it does not allow any deductions. One big advantage is that the forms come pre-filled with data from the AIS and, therefore, all most of the tax filers have to do is tally the information with all sources of income, check the disclosures and press Submit. There are five pre-filed sections in ITR1 that have to be validated before submitting. These sections are Personal Information, Gross Total Income, Total Deductions, Tax Paid and Total Tax Liability.
“Nowadays ITR-1 form are pre-filled with information collected from the Annual Information Statement and Taxpayer Information Summary on the Income Tax e-filing portal. Significantly, it is applicable to all, regardless of whether he/she files tax in the new system or old,” says Ivy Dasgupta, a Kolkata-based Income Tax professional.
Who has to opt for ITR-1?
The Income Tax Department says ITR Form 1 (Sahaj) has to be used by someone with the following sources of income:
Income from salary, one house property, family pension income, agricultural income (up to Rs 5000), Long-term capital gain u/s 112A up to Rs 1.25 lakhs. Other sources of income might include interest from bank savings accounts; interest from FDs in banks/post office/cooperative society; interest from Income Tax refund; interest received on enhanced compensation; family pension.
How to file ITR online
To file ITR online one needs an active Permanent Account Number or PAN and one must have an ID and a password for the income tax filing portal. It can be created if you don’t have one. The steps that one carry out are the following:
ONE: Log in to the e-Filing portal using your user ID and password
TWO: On your Dashboard, click e-File > Income Tax Returns > File Income Tax Return.
THREE: Select Assessment Year as 2026–27 and Mode of filling as Online, then click Continue
FOUR: In case you have already filled the Income Tax Return and it is pending for submission, click Resume Filing. In case you wish to discard the saved return and start preparing the return afresh,click Start New Filing
FIVE: Select Status as applicable to you and click Continue to proceed further
SIX: Select the ITR form and click Proceed
SEVEN: Once you have selected the ITR applicable to you, note the list of documents needed and click Let’s Get Started
EIGHT: Select the checkbox applicable to you regarding reason for filing ITR and click Continue
NINE: For AY 2026-27 New Tax Regime is the default Tax Regime. Option “No” will be Auto Selected for the question “If you want to opt out of New Tax Regime”. Select “Yes” in the Personal Information Section, if you wish to file your return under Old Tax Regime
TEN: Enter/ Edit your income and total deductions details in the different sections. After completing and confirming all the sections of the form, click Proceed
10a: In case there is a tax liability
10a(i) : If you click on “Pay Now” you will be redirected to e-pay Tax service. Click Continue
10a(ii): After successful payment through e-Filing portal a success message is displayed. Click Back to Return Filing to complete filing of ITR
10b: In case there is no tax liability (No Demand / No Refund) or if you are eligible for a Refund
ELEVEN: On the Preview and Submit Your Return page, select the declaration checkbox and click Proceed to Validation
TWELVE: Once internal validations is successful then click on Preview
THIRTEEN: Click on Preview of Return and proceed to validation
FOURTEEN: Once return is successfully validated with Upload level validation then click on Proceed to Verification
FIFTEEN: On the Complete your Verification page, select your preferred option and click Continue
SIXTEEN: On the e-Verify page, select the option through which you want to e-Verify the return and click Continue
Source: Income Tax portal
Ensure no mismatch
In one’s haste one must not throw caution to the winds. Taxpayers must verify Form 16, AIS, Form 26AS and other relevant information before filing their returns. All income and tax details are correctly reflected to facilitate smooth and error-free compliance. One can easily get notices from the Income Tax Department in case of suppressed income, mismatch of data in ITR and AIS etc. One might have to pay penalty too.
