Here's how to file your ITR this year: Read stepwise guide
The Income Tax Department of India has offered an Excel-based offline utility for filing Income Tax Return-1 (Sahaj) and Income Tax Return-4 (Sugam) for the assessment year 2025-26, i.e the financial year 2024-25. 7 key points to remember when filing your Income Tax Return (ITR) this year.(REUTERS)
Under this newly introduced utility, employees, pensioners, freelancers, and small business owners will be able to validate their returns by creating a JSON file, uploading to the e-filing portal, and hence, prepare their income tax returns, even without internet access.
According to the official website, this year, the deadline for filing ITR has seen an extension till Sept 15, for non-audit cases-including ITR-1 and ITR-4 filers. Put across by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), this replaced the earlier window which allowed submissions only till July 31, in order to accommodate structural changes and utility rollout delays.
However, the deadline for paying any self-assessment tax stands on July 31, 2025. Taxpayers should abide by this time frame to avoid interest penalties.
Filing your ITR this year? Here are 7 key points to remember when filing your Income Tax Return (ITR): 1. SELECT THE SUITABLE ITR FORM
Taxpayers are advised to select the suitable ITR form, based on their existing pay scales.
Salaried individuals will be filing their return using ITR-1 (Sahaj), given their income is from salary, single house property, and other sources (like interest), totaling their income to not more than ₹ 50 lakh.
If taxpayers' income is from capital gains, foreign income or multiple household properties, they will be using ITR-2. 2. SELECT THE APPLICABLE OPTION BETWEEN THE NEW AND OLD TAX REGIME
Taxpayers will have to decide if they have to file their return under the old tax regime with exemptions and deductions or the new regime with fewer deductions and reduced slab rates.
In the case of investments in schemes like the Public Provident Fund (PPF) or National Savings Certificate (NSC) for tax benefit, they will only be considered under the old regime. 3. COLLECT AND CHECK ALL RELATED DOCUMENTS
Taxpayers will have to collect all necessary documents like Form 16, which is given by the employer and indicates salary and TDS (Tax Deducted at Source).
Form 26AS (which shows the details of all tax credits) should be printed and checked whether it include TDS on salary, interest income etc. These details should be checked and ensured that they are reflected on Form 16. 4. USE THE NEWLY INTRODUCED OFFLINE UTILITY OR THE ONLINE PORTALS
Taxpayers can use the newly introduced offline utility by following the aforementioned process or follow the previously used Tax2win and other online portals that provide simple online one-step filing options for ITR-1(Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam).
The online portals also pre-fill data like Form 16, ensuring a user friendly experience. 5. LOOK OUT FOR THE FILING DEADLINE AND CONSEQUENCES OF DELAY
For this assessment year (2025-26), there has been an extension for the deadline for filing non-audit cases, i.e for salaried individuals filing ITR-1 and ITR-4 to Sept 15, 2025.
Self-assessment tax payment deadline stands at 31 July 2025, after which taxpayers might incur interest penalties and fees based on the number of days delayed.
If there is an existing delay in filing ITR for previous year(s), there is a provision to file belated returns within the past two years using ITR-U (for individuals who have not filed their returns collected in use only).
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