CBDT released forms for filing on Portal

CBDT Released Forms for Filing on Portal — AY 2026-27 Complete Guide

CBDT has published all income-tax return forms — ITR-1 through ITR-7 — alongside tax audit forms 3CA-3CD and 3CB-3CD, trust audit forms 10B and 10BB, and several standalone statutory forms on the income-tax e-filing portal for Assessment Year 2026-27 (Financial Year 2025-26). If your income fell between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, these are the forms you will file. The non-audit deadline is 31 July 2026 — roughly ten weeks away as of May 2026 — which means AIS reconciliation, form selection, and regime election need to happen now, not in the last week of July.

Which ITR Form Applies to You?

Choosing the wrong ITR form is the most avoidable error in the filing process. Once you submit a return under an incorrect form, you receive a defective-return notice under Section 139(9) giving you 15 days to re-file. If you miss that window, the original return is treated as not filed at all — triggering late fees, interest, and potential loss of carry-forward losses.

ITR-1 (Sahaj) — Salary and Simple Income

Who qualifies: Resident individuals (not ordinarily resident and NRIs cannot use this form) whose total income does not exceed ₹50 lakh, arising from salary or pension, one house property, and other sources such as savings interest or family pension. Agricultural income up to ₹5,000 is permitted.

Who is excluded: Anyone with capital gains — even a single ₹1,000 profit on an equity mutual fund redemption — is disqualified. So are assessees with more than one house property, directorship in any company, unlisted equity shares, or any foreign asset whatsoever. If you tick any of these boxes, move to ITR-2 or ITR-3 before you do anything else.

ITR-2 — Capital Gains, Multiple Properties, Foreign Assets

Who qualifies: Individuals and HUFs with no income from business or profession. This is the correct form if you have salary plus capital gains from equity, mutual funds, debt instruments, immovable property, or virtual digital assets. NRIs file ITR-2 as well. Critically, if you hold any foreign bank account, foreign equity, or foreign immovable property — even dormant — you must use ITR-2 and complete Schedule FA.

ITR-3 — Business and Professional Income

Who qualifies: Individuals and HUFs carrying on a proprietary business or practising a profession (doctors, lawyers, architects, consultants, freelancers). Partners reporting their share of firm income also file ITR-3, not ITR-5. This form houses Schedule BP (business profit), the trading account, balance sheet, and the most comprehensive disclosure requirements of any individual ITR form.

ITR-4 (Sugam) — Presumptive Taxation

Who qualifies: Resident individuals, HUFs, and firms (excluding LLPs) opting for presumptive taxation under Section 44AD (business turnover up to ₹3 crore, or ₹2 crore if more than 5% of receipts are in cash), Section 44ADA (professional gross receipts up to ₹75 lakh), or Section 44AE (goods carriage operators). You cannot use ITR-4 if you hold foreign assets, are a director in a company, hold unlisted equity shares, or have more than one house property.

ITR-5 — Firms, LLPs, AOPs, and BOIs

Who qualifies: Partnership firms, Limited Liability Partnerships, Associations of Persons, Bodies of Individuals, co-operative societies, and local authorities. The form requires disclosure of each partner's or member's name, PAN, and capital contribution. LLPs must also report whether audit under the LLP Act 2008 was conducted.

ITR-6 — Companies

Who qualifies: All companies registered under the Companies Act 2013 (or earlier company legislation) except those claiming exemption under Section 11 (charitable institutions structured as companies file ITR-7). Filing is electronically mandatory; there is no paper option. Companies subject to Minimum Alternate Tax under Section 115JB must attach Form 29B, the CA certificate certifying correct computation of book profits.

ITR-7 — Trusts, Political Parties, and Institutions

Who qualifies: Persons required to file under Section 139(4A) — charitable and religious trusts; 139(4B) — political parties; 139(4C) — scientific research associations, news agencies, hospitals; and 139(4D) — universities and colleges claiming exemption under Section 10(23C). Changes in FCRA registration status, 80G approval, and accumulated income utilisation must be reported here, alongside the trust audit report in Form 10B or 10BB.

What Has Changed in the AY 2026-27 Forms

The Finance Act 2025 (Union Budget 2025, presented on 1 February 2025) introduced amendments now embedded in the structure of every AY 2026-27 form. These are not cosmetic changes — they affect what you enter and what the department expects to see.

Revised New Tax Regime Slabs — The Default You Are Already In

The new tax regime has been the default regime since AY 2024-25. For AY 2026-27, Budget 2025 widened the slabs and enhanced the rebate substantially:

The rebate under Section 87A now covers resident individuals with total income up to ₹12 lakh, making their effective tax liability nil. The standard deduction available to salaried employees and pensioners under the new regime is ₹75,000. In practice, a salaried person with gross salary up to ₹12,75,000 can have zero tax liability under the new regime.

Practical implication for the form: ITR-1 and ITR-2 carry a regime-selection field. If you do not actively elect the old regime, your return will be processed under the new regime automatically. Verify this tick box before submitting.

Form 10-IEA — The Regime Election Form for Business-Income Assessees

Individuals and HUFs with income from business or profession who want to opt out of the new regime and compute tax under the old regime must file Form 10-IEA before the due date of their return. This is not optional.

Without a valid 10-IEA on record at the time of filing, the old-regime election is void. All deductions under Chapter VI-A (except Sections 80CCD(2), 80CCH, and 80JJAA), the Section 24(b) home-loan interest deduction, and HRA exemption are automatically disallowed. The ITO cannot grant relief on these in assessment — the procedural requirement is strict.

Once you opt out via 10-IEA, you can reverse that election only once in your lifetime. This irreversibility matters particularly for professionals and proprietors who have significant LIC premiums, home-loan interest, or school-fee deductions under 80C.

Virtual Digital Asset (VDA) Reporting — Transaction-Level Disclosure

Schedule VDA in the AY 2026-27 forms now requires you to report each trade: asset type (cryptocurrency, NFT, other VDA), date of acquisition, cost of acquisition, date of transfer, sale consideration, and TDS deducted under Section 194S. The AIS pre-fills some of this from exchange data, but you must cross-check against your own exchange transaction statements — AIS does not always capture peer-to-peer or overseas exchange trades.

Tax on VDA gains remains 30% under Section 115BBH, regardless of holding period. No deduction is allowed other than cost of acquisition. Losses on VDAs cannot be set off against any other income and cannot be carried forward — not even against other VDA gains in subsequent years.

Schedule FA — Foreign Assets Aligned With CRS and FATCA

Schedule FA in ITR-2, ITR-3, and ITR-7 now requires disclosure of:

• Foreign bank accounts held at any point during calendar year 2025 (note: calendar year, not financial year)
• Financial interests in any foreign entity
• Immovable property outside India
• Capital assets outside India
• Trusts where you are settlor, trustee, or beneficiary
• Accounts where you hold signing authority

CBDT receives CRS data from over 100 countries and FATCA data from the US IRS. This data is cross-referenced against Schedule FA. Under-reporting triggers proceedings under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act 2015, with penalties starting at ₹10 lakh per undisclosed asset — a separate and harsher regime than the Income-tax Act penalties.

Capital Gains Schedule — Rate Changes Effective 23 July 2024

The capital gains schedule now computes gains in distinct buckets:

1. STCG on equity/equity MFs (STT paid) — 20% under Section 111A (revised from 15% by Finance Act 2024, effective 23 July 2024; applies to the full FY 2025-26)
2. LTCG on equity/equity MFs (STT paid) — 12.5% under Section 112A, with a ₹1.25 lakh annual exemption (revised from 10%/₹1 lakh)
3. LTCG on other assets (property, gold, debt MFs purchased before 1 April 2023) — 12.5% without indexation; for property acquired before 23 July 2024, taxpayers may opt for 20% with indexation under the grandfathering provision
4. Debt mutual fund units purchased after 1 April 2023 — taxable at applicable slab rates regardless of holding period

Verify that your broker's capital gains statement matches AIS to the ISIN level. A mismatch on even one transaction triggers an intimation under Section 143(1)(a).

How to Access and File the Forms — Step by Step

1. Open incometax.gov.in — the income-tax e-filing portal (not the old NSDL portal at tin-nsdl.com, which is now for TDS/TCS and PAN services only).
2. Log in using your PAN and password, or via Aadhaar OTP if Aadhaar is linked to your PAN.
3. Navigate to e-File → Income Tax Returns → File Income Tax Return.
4. Select Assessment Year: 2026-27 and confirm the filing type (Original).
5. Choose your ITR form. The portal suggests one based on your profile — verify this against the eligibility criteria above before accepting.
6. Select Online mode for ITR-1 and ITR-4 (pre-filled, faster). Use the Offline JSON utility for ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-5, ITR-6, and ITR-7, where data volume makes local validation essential.
7. For audit forms and statutory forms (10-IEA, 10E, 15CA, 29B): go to e-File → Income Tax Forms, search by form number, and assign your CA where the form requires Chartered Accountant attestation.

Download the offline utility from the Downloads section of the portal. It validates JSON data locally before upload, catching errors that the online form sometimes misses in complex schedules.

Tax Audit and Statutory Forms You Cannot Overlook

3CA-3CD and 3CB-3CD — Tax Audit Reports

If your business turnover exceeds ₹1 crore (or ₹10 crore where at least 95% of transactions are digital), or professional gross receipts exceed ₹50 lakh, a tax audit under Section 44AB is compulsory.

• Form 3CA-3CD: Used when accounts are already audited under another statute — Companies Act, LLP Act, Banking Regulation Act, etc. Your CA certifies the 3CA portion and attaches the 44-clause 3CD statement.
• Form 3CB-3CD: Used when the income-tax audit is the only audit applicable. Both parts are prepared and signed by the same CA.

The 3CD statement contains 44 clauses covering, among others: loans and deposits above ₹20,000 cash (Sections 269SS and 269T), payments above ₹10,000 in cash (Section 40A(3)), MSME payables pending beyond due date, TDS defaults, deemed dividends, and international transactions. A wrong "No" where the answer should be "Yes" carries a penalty of 0.5% of turnover under Section 271B, capped between ₹75,000 and ₹1,50,000, plus potential prosecution under Section 276.

10B and 10BB — Trust Audit Forms

• Form 10B: Charitable and religious trusts registered under Section 12A or 12AB must file this if income exceeds ₹1 crore, income is being accumulated under Section 11(2), foreign contributions are received, or income is applied outside India.
• Form 10BB: Filed by educational institutions and hospitals claiming exemption under Section 10(23C)(iiiad) or (iiiae) — typically smaller institutions below the Section 10(23C)(vi)/(via) threshold.

Form 10E — Mandatory for Section 89(1) Relief on Arrears

If you received salary arrears or advance salary and want to claim tax relief under Section 89(1) to spread the income across prior years, you must file Form 10E on the portal before submitting the ITR. Without 10E, the return will process without the relief. Any refund arising from the Section 89(1) claim will be rejected, and you will have to file a revised return after submitting 10E — causing delay and potential interest implications.

Forms 15CA and 15CB — Foreign Remittances

If you are remitting a taxable payment abroad (royalty, technical fees, interest, dividend, rent, consultancy fees), Form 15CA (self-declaration by remitter) and Form 15CB (CA certificate) must be uploaded on the income-tax portal before your bank processes the wire transfer. The bank is required by RBI guidelines to accept Form A2 only after Form 15CA/CB is submitted for taxable payments above thresholds.

AIS and TIS Reconciliation — The Step Before You Open the Form

The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is now the primary source document for the department. It aggregates salary (from Form 16 data submitted by employers), TDS from banks, dividends from exchange/depository data, securities transactions at ISIN level, foreign remittances from Form 15CA, rent received (where TDS was deducted under Section 194I), and VDA transactions where 194S TDS was deducted.

The Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) shows the same information deduplicated and categorised — a cleaner view of what the department believes you earned.

Reconciliation process before you start the ITR:

1. Download AIS from incometax.gov.in → e-File → View AIS and export to PDF.
2. Download Form 26AS from the same portal (under e-File → View Form 26AS) to verify TDS credits.
3. Collect from your own records: Form 16/16A, bank interest certificates, broker capital gains statement (trade-wise), dividend credit advices, and all deduction proofs.
4. Work through AIS line by line. For every item that is incorrect (e.g., a transaction that belongs to another PAN, or an amount that is double-reported), submit Feedback within the AIS module — use "Information is incorrect" or "Information relates to another PAN". Keep a screenshot of each feedback submitted.
5. Report the correct amount in your ITR even if AIS shows a different figure, and note the feedback submission in your working file. You are not required to match AIS blindly.
6. Verify TDS credit line by line. If a deductor deducted ₹10,000 TDS but only deposited ₹8,000 (Form 26AS will show only what was deposited), you will get credit for only ₹8,000 at processing. Pursue the deductor to correct the TDS return rather than overstating the credit in your ITR.

Worked Example: ITR-2 with Capital Gains and a Foreign Bank Account

Scenario: Rajan is a salaried professional (FY 2025-26 gross salary ₹22,00,000) who also redeemed equity mutual funds and holds a savings account in Singapore from his posting abroad three years ago.

Tax under new regime (regular income = ₹21,52,200):

Form choice: Rajan must use ITR-2 — not ITR-1, because he has capital gains and foreign assets. If his employer's payroll software suggests ITR-1, ignore it.

Schedule FA obligation: The Singapore savings account must appear in Schedule FA under "Foreign Bank Accounts" with the bank name, account number, SWIFT code, peak balance during calendar year 2025, and closing balance as on 31 December 2025. The ₹9,200 Singapore interest must be included in Indian income. If Singapore deducted withholding tax, Rajan can claim Foreign Tax Credit using Form 67, which must be filed before the ITR due date.

Due Dates for AY 2026-27 — Miss These and Pay a Price

Late-filing fee under Section 234F:

• Total income above ₹5 lakh: ₹5,000 if filed after 31 July 2026 but on or before 31 December 2026.
• Total income ₹5 lakh or below: ₹1,000.

After 31 December 2026, only an Updated Return (ITR-U) is available, with an additional tax of 25% on the aggregate of tax and interest due (if filed within 12 months of the end of the AY — i.e., by 31 March 2028), rising to 50% if filed in the second year (1 April 2028 to 31 March 2029).

Worked penalty example: A salaried individual with income of ₹9 lakh and an outstanding tax balance of ₹40,000 files on 20 August 2026 — 20 days late. The Section 234F fee is ₹5,000. Interest under Section 234A accrues at 1% per month (or part thereof) from 1 August 2026 — 1 month's interest = ₹40,000 × 1% = ₹400. Total unnecessary cost: ₹5,400, for a return that could have been filed in July for nothing.

Common Mistakes and Pitfalls to Avoid

1. Selecting ITR-1 despite having capital gains Even a single equity mutual fund redemption generating ₹500 in profit disqualifies you from ITR-1. The portal may not block the selection at the form-choice stage — it catches the error only at validation, after you have entered data. Start with the right form.

2. Skipping Form 10-IEA and losing old-regime deductions Business-income assessees must file 10-IEA before the return due date — not on the same day as the return, and not after. A 10-IEA filed one minute after the return timestamp is late and invalid. File it first, keep the acknowledgement.

3. Under-reporting dividend income Dividends have been taxable at slab rates since AY 2021-22. AIS captures dividend from every company in your demat account, however small. A ₹300 dividend from a small-cap holding that you missed will appear as a discrepancy and can trip CASS (Computer Aided Scrutiny Selection). Report every dividend; there is no minimum exemption.

4. Treating VDA gains as long-term or short-term capital gains Cryptocurrency and NFT gains fall under Section 115BBH — a separate charging section taxed at a flat 30%. There is no short-term/long-term distinction. Entering VDA gains in the regular capital gains schedule (Schedule CG) is technically incorrect and may cause processing discrepancies. Use Schedule VDA specifically.

5. Claiming HRA exemption under the new regime The new regime does not permit HRA exemption under Section 10(13A), loss from house property set-off against salary, or most Chapter VI-A deductions (other than 80CCD(2), 80CCH, 80JJAA). If you did not file 10-IEA and are therefore in the new regime, any HRA exemption or 80C deduction entered will be stripped out at processing under Section 143(1)(a).

6. Filing ITR before reconciling TDS credits TDS reflected in Form 26AS is what the system will actually credit. If your Form 16 shows ₹85,000 TDS deducted but Form 26AS shows only ₹70,000 deposited by the employer, claiming ₹85,000 in the ITR will generate an intimation. File only after verifying that every TDS line in 26AS matches your deduction certificate.

7. Omitting Schedule FA for dormant foreign accounts If you held a foreign bank account, foreign equity, or foreign property at any point during calendar year 2025 — even if the account was zero balance on 31 March 2026 — Schedule FA is mandatory. The Black Money Act penalty of ₹10 lakh per asset applies irrespective of whether any income was earned. There is no de minimis threshold.

Key Takeaways

• All ITR forms (ITR-1 to ITR-7) and audit forms (3CA-3CD, 3CB-3CD, 10B, 10BB) for AY 2026-27 are live on incometax.gov.in — the filing window is open and there is no reason to wait until July.
• Form eligibility is strict — capital gains, a foreign bank account, or business income each determine which ITR form you can legally use; filing under the wrong form triggers a defective-return notice with a 15-day cure window.
• The new tax regime is the default for every taxpayer — if you have business income and want the old regime, Form 10-IEA must be filed before the return due date; this is a one-directional, near-irreversible election.
• Schedule FA for foreign assets is not optional — the Black Money Act imposes a ₹10 lakh penalty per undisclosed asset, entirely separate from income-tax law; calendar-year 2025 is the reference period, not FY 2025-26.
• Reconcile AIS and TIS against every source document before opening your ITR — discrepancies you leave unresolved become Section 143(1)(a) intimations or CASS scrutiny selections.
• Filing after 31 July 2026 costs at minimum ₹5,000 in Section 234F late fees (income above ₹5 lakh) plus monthly interest under Section 234A — early filing costs nothing.
• Form 10E for Section 89(1) relief and Form 67 for Foreign Tax Credit must be filed before the ITR — both are preconditions the portal checks at processing; filing them after submitting the return does not cure the deficiency retrospectively.