ITR filing FY2026: As the fiscal year 2024-25 draws to a close, taxpayers should prepare to submit their Income Tax Returns (ITR) for Assessment Year 2025-26. The filing process will commence on April 1, 2025, and can be done through both online and offline channels.
The Income Tax Department has recently introduced an enhanced version of the Excel-based utility for Filing ITR-2, designed for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) who do not generate income from business or profession.
How much tax do I have to pay? Calculate now
The latest update, Utility Excel-Based (Version 1.11), was unveiled on March 25, 2025, and includes support for filing under Section 139(8A), enabling taxpayers to amend their returns if necessary. This tool aims to simplify the return filing process for salaried individuals, retirees, and other non-business taxpayers.
What is ITR 2?
The ITR-2 form applies to resident individuals with a total income exceeding Rs 50 lakh in a financial year and income from sources such as capital gains, multiple house properties, foreign income, etc. Additionally, individuals holding directorship in a company or unlisted equity shares are required to file ITR-2.
Indian residents with active PAN and registration on the IT Department's 'e-filing' portal are eligible to file ITR-2 online. The filing process has been streamlined with the addition of 'Pre-filled information' that automatically fills in details such as salary, interest income, and tax deductions.
ITR-2 is designated for individuals or Hindu Undivided Families (HUF) whose total income for the Assessment Year 2025-26 encompasses:
Updated Utility Details for ITR-2 Excel-Based
For Individuals and HUFs not having income from profits and gains of business or profession.
Utility Excel Based (Version 1.11) Includes filing u/s 139(8A)
Date of release of latest version of utility: 25-Mar-2025
Date of release of first version of utility: 01-Apr-2024
Date of first release of JSON Schema: 29-Mar-2024
Date of latest release of JSON Schema: 16-Jan-2025
ITR-1 (Sahaj) vs ITR-2
As a salaried individual with no income from a business or profession, it is important to select the appropriate form for filing your income tax return. The two options available to you are ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-2.
Choosing the wrong form could result in your ITR being considered 'defective.' For instance, if you opt for ITR-1 when ITR-2 is more suitable due to its requirement for additional financial information, you may not provide the necessary details. This could result in receiving notices from the income tax (I-T) department.
ITR-1 (Sahaj) is designed for salaried tax-payers or pensioners with straightforward financial affairs. The form comes pre-filled with personal details, income information, and financial transactions to streamline the filing process. Taxpayers can cross-check the information with their Form-16, bank statements, Form 26AS, and Annual Information Statement (AIS) before submitting their return online.
Only resident (and ordinarily resident) individuals with an income not exceeding Rs 50 lakh, derived from sources such as salary, pension, one house property, agriculture (up to Rs 5,000), savings or fixed deposits, dividends, and family pension are eligible to use this form.
ITR-2 for those with salaries of over Rs 50 lakh
ITR-1 (Sahaj) is specifically designed for individuals with simpler salary structures. If your annual income exceeds Rs 50 lakh or you have multiple sources of income, significant financial transactions, or fall under specific categories such as being a non-resident or resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR), you cannot use ITR-1 for filing your tax returns. In such cases, you would need to use ITR-2.
Additionally, if you have capital gains or losses, are a director in a company, own unlisted shares or ESOPs, maintain a foreign bank account, or hold assets outside India, ITR-2 is the appropriate form for you to use instead of ITR-1.