ITR-1

ITR-1 (Sahaj) for AY 2026-27: Eligibility, New Tax Regime, Filing Steps and Due Dates

ITR-1 — popularly called Sahaj — is the income-tax return form for resident salaried individuals whose total income in FY 2025-26 does not exceed ₹50 lakh. For Assessment Year 2026-27, the new tax regime is the default, the Section 87A rebate zeroes out tax for those earning up to ₹12 lakh, and the e-filing portal pre-fills data from AIS and Form 26AS. If your income falls within the eligible basket, this guide tells you exactly who qualifies, what to collect, how to file and what delay costs you.

Who Can File ITR-1 for AY 2026-27

ITR-1 is available to resident individuals — not Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR), and not non-residents — whose total income in FY 2025-26 does not exceed ₹50 lakh and comes exclusively from the following sources:

• Salary or pension, including arrears brought to tax under Section 89 relief
• One house property — income or loss, but without any brought-forward loss from a prior year
• Other sources — savings bank interest, fixed deposit interest, family pension, dividends
• Agricultural income up to ₹5,000
• Long-term capital gains (LTCG) under Section 112A up to the threshold as notified; if your LTCG exceeds that threshold, or if you have any short-term capital gains, you must move to ITR-2

The ₹50 lakh ceiling applies to total income before deductions. If your gross salary is ₹48 lakh and you also have ₹3 lakh in FD interest, your total income is ₹51 lakh and Sahaj is off the table — regardless of 80C investments.

Who Cannot File ITR-1 — Check This Before You Start

Using the wrong form invalidates your return. Switch to ITR-2 or a higher form if any of the following apply to you in FY 2025-26:

• Total income exceeds ₹50 lakh
• You are a director of any company — even with zero remuneration or sitting fees
• You held unlisted equity shares at any point during the year
• You have income from business or profession, including freelance, consultancy, or presumptive income under Sections 44AD/44ADA
• You have more than one house property, or a brought-forward house property loss from any earlier year
• You have capital gains beyond the Sahaj-eligible LTCG threshold, or a capital loss to carry forward
• You have foreign assets, foreign income, or signing authority over a foreign bank account
• You are a non-resident or RNOR
• You are claiming foreign tax credit under Sections 90, 90A or 91
• You have share of profit or remuneration from a partnership firm (share of profit is exempt, but interest and remuneration paid by the firm are business income)

If even one condition applies, do not attempt to file Sahaj. An invalid-form return triggers a defective-return notice under Section 139(9) and must be rectified within 15 days — causing unnecessary delay and scrutiny risk.

The Default New Tax Regime: What Sahaj Filers Must Decide First

For AY 2026-27, the new tax regime is the statutory default under Section 115BAC. Unless you actively opt out, the portal computes your tax under the new regime slabs. As per the Finance Act 2025, the new regime slabs for FY 2025-26 are:

The Section 87A rebate under the new regime is ₹60,000 for taxpayers whose total income does not exceed ₹12 lakh, effectively eliminating any tax liability at that level. Combined with the standard deduction of ₹75,000 for salaried individuals, a person with gross salary up to ₹12,75,000 has zero income tax liability under the new regime.

Opting Out to the Old Regime

Salaried Sahaj filers can switch to the old regime directly within the ITR-1 form itself — there is no separate Form 10-IEA requirement (that applies to business and professional taxpayers filing ITR-3 or ITR-4, not to salaried individuals). When you opt out in ITR-1:

• Standard deduction is ₹50,000 (vs ₹75,000 in the new regime)
• You can claim Section 80C (up to ₹1.5 lakh), 80D (health insurance), 80CCD(1B) (NPS, up to ₹50,000 additional), HRA, home-loan interest, 80E, 80G and other Chapter VI-A deductions
• The Section 87A rebate applies only if total income does not exceed ₹5 lakh, capped at ₹12,500

The old-regime slab rates for FY 2025-26 are: Nil (up to ₹2.5 lakh), 5% (₹2.5L–₹5L), 20% (₹5L–₹10L), 30% (above ₹10L).

The regime choice is not locked in for salaried individuals. You can change it every year when filing ITR-1. Make a deliberate, calculated decision — not a default one.

Documents to Collect Before You Open the Portal

Assembling everything first eliminates the most common filing errors: mismatched TDS, skipped interest income and wrong bank details for refunds.

For every filer:

• PAN card and Aadhaar (linked to your mobile number for OTP-based e-verification)
• Form 16 Part A and Part B from every employer in FY 2025-26 — if you changed jobs mid-year, collect both
• Form 26AS — download from the e-filing portal or TRACES; this is your master TDS register
• AIS (Annual Information Statement) and TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) — download from the e-filing portal under "Annual Information Statement"; these capture salary, interest, dividends, capital gains and high-value transactions
• Bank account details (account number and IFSC) for refund credit

For old-regime filers claiming deductions:

• Interest certificates from all banks (savings accounts and fixed deposits)
• Home-loan interest certificate from lender, and principal repayment schedule
• HRA calculation with rent receipts; if annual rent to a single landlord exceeds ₹1 lakh, their PAN is mandatory
• Section 80C proofs: ELSS statements, LIC premium receipts, PPF passbook, tuition fee receipts, home-loan principal
• Section 80D: health insurance premium receipts for self, spouse, children, parents
• Section 80G: donation receipts with the donee organisation's 80G approval number and validity period
• Section 80CCD(1B): NPS Tier-I contribution statement from NSDL/Karvy

Cross-check AIS against primary documents. The AIS auto-populates, but errors occur — an employer may file a corrected TDS return late, or a bank may credit interest with a one-day delay that shifts it to the wrong year. If you spot a mismatch, submit feedback on the AIS portal (mark as "incorrect" or "duplicate") before filing. Keep a record of the feedback.

Step-by-Step: How to File ITR-1 on the e-Filing Portal

This sequence applies to online filing at unknown node. Allow 60–90 minutes the first time; subsequent filings are faster with saved data.

1. Log in with your PAN and password. If you have not registered, create an account — PAN is your user ID. Enable two-factor authentication.

1. Navigate: e-File → Income Tax Returns → File Income Tax Return → Assessment Year 2026-27 → Online mode → ITR-1 → "Let's Get Started."

1. Verify pre-filled data. The portal pulls Name, PAN, address, employer TAN, TDS credits (Form 26AS), salary breakup and bank accounts. Do not assume it is correct. Compare every salary figure against your Form 16 Part A and Part B.

1. Confirm or correct salary details. Verify gross salary, allowances (HRA, LTA, special allowance), perquisites, and employer's contribution to provident fund. Reconcile TDS deducted with Form 26AS Column 5.

1. Select your tax regime. The form defaults to new regime. If you want old regime, switch the toggle now — before entering any deduction data. This is the single most consequential click in the form.

1. Enter house property income. Provide address, type (self-occupied or let out), annual rent received (for let-out), municipal taxes paid and net annual value. The 30% standard deduction on net annual value is automatic. Home-loan interest (up to ₹2 lakh for self-occupied under old regime, or actual for let-out) is entered here.

1. Enter other-source income. Add savings bank interest, FD interest, dividend income and family pension. Every item visible in your AIS must be declared; omission triggers a 143(1) adjustment notice.

1. Claim deductions (old-regime filers). Enter 80C, 80D, 80CCD(1B), 80E, 80G, 80TTA amounts. The portal caps 80C at ₹1.5 lakh automatically.

1. Review tax computation. Gross tax, rebate under 87A, surcharge (not applicable below ₹50 lakh), 4% health and education cess, TDS credit and net payable/refundable all appear. If tax is payable, pay Self-Assessment Tax via Challan 280 on the portal before submitting — note the BSR code and challan serial number.

1. Validate and preview. Click "Validate" on each section. Use "Preview and Submit" to generate the PDF draft. Read it once — this is the document the Income Tax Department will act on.

1. Submit and e-verify within 30 days. Aadhaar OTP is the fastest method (two minutes, requires Aadhaar linked to mobile). Alternatives: net banking EVC, demat account EVC, bank account EVC, or Digital Signature Certificate (DSC). A return that is not e-verified within 30 days is treated as never filed.

Worked Example: New Regime vs Old Regime for a ₹14 Lakh Salary

Scenario: Priya is a marketing manager in Pune earning gross salary of ₹14,00,000 in FY 2025-26. She pays ₹24,000 in health insurance premiums (80D), invests ₹1,50,000 in ELSS and PPF (80C), contributes ₹50,000 additionally to NPS Tier-I (80CCD(1B)), and has ₹24,000 in savings bank interest.

New Regime

Tax on ₹13,49,000:

• Nil on ₹4,00,000 = ₹0
• 5% on ₹4,00,000 (₹4L–₹8L) = ₹20,000
• 10% on ₹4,00,000 (₹8L–₹12L) = ₹40,000
• 15% on ₹1,49,000 (₹12L–₹13.49L) = ₹22,350

Gross Tax = ₹82,350 | 4% Cess = ₹3,294 | Total Tax = ₹85,644

(87A rebate does not apply — income exceeds ₹12 lakh.)

Old Regime

Tax on ₹11,40,000:

• Nil on ₹2,50,000 = ₹0
• 5% on ₹2,50,000 = ₹12,500
• 20% on ₹5,00,000 = ₹1,00,000
• 30% on ₹1,40,000 = ₹42,000

Gross Tax = ₹1,54,500 | 4% Cess = ₹6,180 | Total Tax = ₹1,60,680

What This Tells You

Priya saves ₹75,036 by staying with the new regime despite having ₹2.74 lakh in eligible deductions. Her deductions are simply not large enough to overcome the advantage of lower slab rates.

The crossover point is different for everyone. A person with substantial HRA (say ₹1.8 lakh exempt), full 80C (₹1.5 lakh), 80CCD(1B) (₹50,000) and 80D (₹50,000) — totalling around ₹4.3 lakh+ — may find the old regime competitive at this income level. Calculate both before you file.

Due Dates, Late Fees and the Real Cost of Delay

Key Dates for AY 2026-27

Section 234F Late Filing Fee

Filing after 31 July 2026 attracts a flat penalty:

• ₹1,000 if total income does not exceed ₹5 lakh
• ₹5,000 if total income exceeds ₹5 lakh

This fee must be paid before the belated return can be submitted. The portal enforces this — it will not allow submission without the challan.

Section 234A Interest on Unpaid Tax

If tax remains unpaid on the due date, interest accrues at 1% per month (or part of a month) on the outstanding amount, from 1 August 2026 until the actual date of payment.

Quick cost illustration: Suppose Rahul has ₹25,000 of self-assessment tax outstanding and delays filing until 30 November 2026 (four months late).

• Section 234F fee: ₹5,000 (income above ₹5 lakh)
• Section 234A interest: 1% × 4 months × ₹25,000 = ₹1,000
• Total extra outflow: ₹6,000 — for a return that takes under an hour to file

File by 31 July 2026. The portal is routinely congested in the final fortnight of July. A technical failure on the due date is not an acceptable excuse, though the CBDT has, in past years, extended deadlines after large-scale outages — do not plan around that possibility.

Common Mistakes Sahaj Filers Make — and How to Avoid Them

1. Blindly Accepting AIS Pre-Fill

The AIS is powerful but imperfect. TDS mismatches, duplicated dividend entries and bank interest credited in March but reported in April are routine. Filing without verification leads to Section 143(1) adjustments.

Fix: Download AIS and TIS from the e-filing portal. Cross-check every entry against Form 16, bank statements and broker tax P&L. Submit AIS feedback for incorrect entries before filing — the feedback is timestamped and protects you in scrutiny.

2. Consolidating Two Form 16s Incorrectly

If you changed employers in FY 2025-26, you have two Form 16s. Your new employer may not have known your previous salary and may have computed TDS on only their portion — leaving you under-TDS with a balance payable.

Fix: Add the first employer's salary under the salary schedule manually. Reconcile total TDS with Form 26AS. Pay any balance before submission.

3. Omitting Savings Bank and FD Interest

Many filers skip SB interest — especially from dormant or joint accounts. The AIS captures it from bank-reported data. Any gap triggers an automatic adjustment.

Fix: Add all SB interest and FD interest under "Other Sources." Old-regime filers then claim the ₹10,000 deduction under Section 80TTA to partially offset it.

4. Not E-Verifying Within 30 Days

A return that is submitted but not e-verified within 30 days is treated by the Income Tax Act as never filed. The ITR acknowledgment number is irrelevant without e-verification.

Fix: E-verify on the same day you submit. Aadhaar OTP takes under two minutes and requires only your Aadhaar-linked mobile number.

5. Filing Sahaj as a Company Director

Even a director who draws only salary and received no remuneration, no sitting fees and no dividend from the company cannot use ITR-1. The Act requires all directors to be disclosed in their return, and ITR-1 has no field for this.

Fix: File ITR-2. Salary income computation is identical — you simply fill in the director disclosure and shareholding details in the additional schedule.

6. Misreading Capital Gains Eligibility

ITR-1 permits only specific LTCG under Section 112A (on listed equity shares and equity mutual funds) and only up to the notified threshold. Any short-term capital gains — even ₹500 — disqualify you from Sahaj entirely.

Fix: Download the capital gains section of your AIS and your broker's tax P&L statement before filing. If any STCG or excess LTCG appears, use ITR-2.

7. Forgetting to Toggle the Regime — and Paying More Tax

The portal defaults to new regime. If you intended to file under the old regime but missed the toggle, you lose all your deductions and pay on higher taxable income. This is reversible — but only through a revised return filed before 31 December 2026.

Fix: Decide your regime before opening the return. Set the toggle as your very first action inside the form, before entering any income or deduction data.

Key Takeaways

• ITR-1 (Sahaj) is strictly for resident individuals with total income up to ₹50 lakh from salary/pension, one house property, other sources and eligible LTCG — a single disqualifying condition requires a switch to ITR-2 or higher.
• The new tax regime is the default for AY 2026-27; salaried Sahaj filers opt out annually within the ITR-1 form — no separate Form 10-IEA is required.
• Zero tax up to ₹12,75,000 gross salary under the new regime — the ₹75,000 standard deduction plus the ₹60,000 Section 87A rebate (for income up to ₹12 lakh) combine to eliminate liability entirely.
• Reconcile AIS, TIS and Form 26AS against your Form 16 and bank statements before accepting pre-filled data — errors in these sources flow directly into your return and can trigger 143(1) notices.
• The filing due date is 31 July 2026; late filing triggers a flat fee of ₹1,000–₹5,000 under Section 234F, plus 1% monthly interest under Section 234A on any unpaid tax.
• E-verify within 30 days of submission using Aadhaar OTP, net banking EVC or DSC — an unverified return is legally treated as never filed.
• Run both regime calculations before filing — for most salaried individuals with standard deductions, the new regime saves tax, but high HRA, 80C, 80CCD(1B) and 80D claimants should compute the old regime before committing.