income tax return
Income tax return: The government has made a major change in the tax filing calendar for the financial year 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27). If you are employed, then the rules for you are the same as before, but small businessmen and professionals without tax audit have been given an additional time of one month to file returns. Apart from this, if any mistake is made while filing the return, there will be more time to correct it than before.
Who got relief, for whom the rules became old?
The biggest change under the new schedule has been made for those filing ITR-3 and ITR-4. Such small businessmen, freelancers or professionals whose income is not subject to tax audit will now be able to submit their returns by 31 August 2026 instead of 31 July. It often takes time for freelancers to finalize their balance sheets, so this extra month will be a lifesaver for them. At the same time, for the salaried class, pensioners and capital gains taxpayers who fill ITR-1 and ITR-2 forms, the old deadline of July 31 has been retained.
Extra time to correct mistakes
Many times, while filing returns, claiming exemption under Section 80C is missed, or due to late statements received from brokers, the correct figure of capital gain is not recorded. Earlier, the last date for filing such ‘Revised Return’ was only 31st December of the assessment year. Now the Income Tax Department has extended this deadline to 31 March 2027. This simply means that if there is a mismatch in your Annual Information Statement (AIS), you will have an additional three months to rectify it.
New calendar for income tax return filing
| Taxpayer category | last date |
| ITR-1 and ITR-2 (Salary, Pension, Capital Gains) | July 31, 2026 |
| ITR-3 and ITR-4 (Business/Professional Income Unaudited Cases) | August 31, 2026 |
| ITR-3 and ITR-4 (tax audit cases) | October 31, 2026 |
| Businesses with transfer pricing reports | November 30, 2026 |
| Belated Returns (Late Filing) | December 31, 2026 |
| Revised return (to correct the mistake) | March 31, 2027 |
| Updated Return (ITR-U) | March 31, 2031 |
