ITR filing process for AY 2026-27 officially begins

The Income Tax Department has enabled ITR filing for assessment year 2026-27 by releasing Excel utilities for ITR-1 and ITR-4 forms on the e-filing portal. Taxpayers can now file returns offline and upload them online after verification

New Delhi: The Income Tax Department on Friday said that it enabled the filing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for the financial year 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27) with the release of Excel utilities for ITR-1 and ITR-4 forms on e-filing portal.

Announcing the update on social media platform X, the department said taxpayers can now access both the Excel utility and online filing options for the two forms.

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With the announcement of the offline utilities, the ITR filing process for AY 2026-27 has officially commenced.

Now, taxpayers can fill out the forms offline and generate a JSON file and upload it to the Income Tax Department’s e-filing website after completing verification. However, non-audit taxpayers are generally required to file their returns by July 31.

At present, seven different ITR forms are available, depending on the nature of income and taxpayer category.

ITR-1 — known as Sahaj — is meant for resident individuals, excluding not ordinarily resident taxpayers, having an annual income of up to Rs 50 lakh.

ITR-4 — known as Sugam — applicable to resident individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and firms other than LLPs with annual income up to Rs 50 lakh.

Earlier, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had notified the ITR forms for AY 2026-27 with revised disclosure norms. The changes include additional reporting requirements related to long-term capital gains, losses from share buybacks and certain trading transactions.

Notably, India’s net direct tax collections recorded steady growth in the financial year 2025–26, rising 5.12 per cent year-on-year to Rs 23,40,406 crore, according to data released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).