Everything you need to file your AY 2026-27 return: form selection, regime choice, AIS reconciliation, capital gains, advance tax, e-verification and notices — written by a Pune CA.
CA Rahul Dang
Founder & Practice Lead
Filing your income tax return for Assessment Year 2026-27 (income earned in financial year 2025-26) is more than a once-a-year formality. It is the single document that reconciles everything the tax department already knows about you — your salary, investments, property and foreign assets — against what you declare. Get it right and you secure your refund, preserve valuable carry-forward benefits and stay off the notice list. Get it wrong and you invite mismatches, demands and stress. This guide walks you through the entire process, end to end, and links to detailed articles on each step.
You must file if your total income exceeds the basic exemption limit for your chosen regime, but several other triggers apply even below that threshold: holding foreign assets or having foreign income, depositing large sums in bank accounts, spending above specified limits on foreign travel or electricity, or wanting to claim a refund of TDS already deducted. For most salaried people, professionals and investors in Pune, filing is either mandatory or clearly in their interest — a refund is only paid if you file.
The new tax regime is now the default, offering lower slab rates but removing most deductions and exemptions. The old regime retains deductions such as 80C, 80D, home-loan interest and HRA. The right choice is a calculation, not a habit: taxpayers with significant rent, home loans and investments often still come out ahead under the old regime, while those with few deductions benefit from the new one. Salaried taxpayers can switch regimes each year; those with business income face restrictions on switching back. If you rent in Pune and claim HRA, read our detailed guide on how to claim HRA correctly before locking in your regime.
The form is decided by the nature of your income, and choosing wrong can make your return defective under Section 139(9). In brief: ITR-1 for simple salary/one-house cases (with small LTCG up to ₹1.25 lakh); ITR-2 for capital gains, multiple properties, foreign assets and NRIs; ITR-3 for business and professional income, including F&O; and ITR-4 for presumptive income under 44AD/44ADA. Our full ITR form selector guide gives a decision table for every income mix. This is the first place self-filers go wrong, so it is worth a careful read.
This is the highest-value step in the whole process. The department's Annual Information Statement (AIS), Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) and Form 26AS already record your interest, dividends, share sales, salary and high-value transactions. A return that doesn't match these is the leading cause of a Section 143(1) adjustment. Pull all three, line them up against your own records, and resolve every gap before filing — including submitting feedback on any wrong AIS entry. Our guide on AIS, TIS and 26AS reconciliation shows exactly how. Skip this step and you are filing blind against data the department can see.
Salary: combine all employers. If you changed jobs during the year, you will have two Form 16s, and both employers likely under-deducted tax by applying the exemption twice — see combining two Form 16s after a job switch.
Capital gains: equity and mutual-fund gains follow the post-July-2024 rates — see capital gains on shares and mutual funds; property sales involve the 12.5%-vs-20% choice and exemptions under 54/54F/54EC — see capital gains on sale of property.
Business and profession: active traders report F&O as business income in ITR-3 — see F&O trading taxation; eligible small businesses and professionals may use the presumptive scheme.
Equity compensation: RSUs and ESOPs are taxed at vesting and at sale, with mandatory Schedule FA disclosure for foreign shares — see RSU and ESOP taxation.
If your total tax liability for the year exceeds ₹10,000, the law expects you to pay it in instalments through the year as advance tax; missing the schedule attracts interest under Sections 234B and 234C. A job switch or a large capital gain often creates an unexpected advance-tax shortfall. Our guide on advance tax and the 234B/234C interest trap explains the instalment schedule and how to minimise interest. Pay any remaining self-assessment tax before you file.
Filing is only step one. Your return is legally incomplete until you verify it within 30 days — miss that window and it is treated as never filed, costing you your refund and on-time status. Aadhaar OTP or net banking settles it in minutes. See the 30-day e-verification rule for all six methods and the traps that catch last-day filers.
For AY 2026-27, the due date for non-audit taxpayers is 31 July 2026. If you miss it, you can still file a belated return (with a Section 234F fee) or correct an error with a revised return, generally up to 31 December 2026; an updated return (ITR-U) is available for a longer window at additional cost. Our guide on belated, revised and updated returns maps every option and its cost. Filing on time also preserves your right to carry forward losses, which is forfeited on late filing.
After processing, most taxpayers receive a Section 143(1) intimation — an automated confirmation, not a scrutiny notice. It shows one of three outcomes: no change, a refund, or a demand/adjustment. Only the last needs action, within a 30-day window. Our guide on responding to a 143(1) notice explains exactly how. The best defence is a clean, AIS-reconciled return that produces "no change".
Senior citizens enjoy a higher exemption, the 80TTB deduction on interest and relief from advance tax, but FD interest in their AIS often still requires a return — see the senior citizen filing guide.
The new Income-tax Act 2025 takes effect from 1 April 2026, but your AY 2026-27 return is still filed under the 1961 Act — see what the Income-tax Act 2025 changes.
NRIs and those with foreign assets have additional disclosure obligations covered in our NRI guide.
Filing software is good at arithmetic and poor at judgment — regime choice, AIS reconciliation, the right form, loss set-offs and exemption planning. For anything beyond a single-salary return, a professional review usually saves more than it costs. See why ITR filing with a Pune CA still beats the app.
Gathering your paperwork first makes filing fast and accurate. Keep ready: Form 16 from every employer; interest certificates from banks, post office and cooperative societies; your capital-gains statements from each broker and AMC; rent receipts, rent agreement and landlord PAN if you claim HRA; home-loan interest and principal certificates; proofs for 80C, 80D, 80G and other deductions; details of foreign assets for Schedule FA; your AIS, TIS and Form 26AS downloaded from the portal; and your pre-validated bank account for the refund. Having these in one place is the difference between a 30-minute filing and a week of chasing documents during the busiest part of the season.
Under the new regime, slab rates are lower and a standard deduction for salaried taxpayers is available, but most other exemptions and deductions — HRA, LTA, 80C, 80D, home-loan interest on a self-occupied house — are not. Under the old regime, the rates are higher but the full deduction toolkit applies. As a rough rule, the more you legitimately claim, the more attractive the old regime becomes. A Pune salaried taxpayer paying substantial rent and a home loan, contributing to PF/ELSS and paying health-insurance premiums can often save more under the old regime; a younger professional with few deductions usually benefits from the new one. Because the new regime is the default, you must consciously opt for the old one if it suits you — and the only way to know is to compute both, which is exactly what we do for every client.
The most-used deductions include Section 80C (up to ₹1.5 lakh for PF, ELSS, life insurance, PPF, principal repayment, children's tuition), Section 80D (health-insurance premiums, with a higher limit for senior-citizen parents), Section 80CCD(1B) (an additional ₹50,000 for NPS), Section 24(b) (home-loan interest on a self-occupied house up to ₹2 lakh), Section 80TTA/80TTB (savings and, for seniors, deposit interest), and Section 80G (donations). Each has conditions and proof requirements; claiming them correctly under the old regime is often what tips the calculation in its favour.
Season after season, the same avoidable errors recur: filing ITR-1 despite a property sale or large capital gain; squeezing F&O income into the wrong form; choosing a regime by default instead of by calculation; double-claiming the same 80C or HRA across two employers after a job switch; ignoring AIS entries that later trigger a 143(1) demand; forgetting to disclose foreign RSUs in Schedule FA; and — most painful of all — filing but never verifying, so the return lapses. Every one of these is preventable with a careful pre-filing review.
Aim to gather documents by mid-June, reconcile your AIS by early July, file by mid-July rather than waiting for 31 July, and verify immediately. Filing a week or two before the deadline avoids portal congestion, leaves room to fix any mismatch, and ensures your refund is processed early. Last-day filing is where most verification lapses and avoidable errors happen.
What is the due date for filing ITR for AY 2026-27? For individuals who do not require an audit, the due date is 31 July 2026. Filing earlier avoids portal congestion and leaves time to fix any mismatch.
Should I choose the old or new tax regime? It depends on your deductions. If you claim significant HRA, home-loan interest, 80C and 80D, the old regime often wins; with few deductions, the new regime's lower rates usually win. Compute both before deciding — the new regime is the default if you do nothing.
What if I miss the 31 July deadline? You can file a belated return (with a Section 234F late fee), a revised return to correct errors, generally up to 31 December 2026, or an updated return (ITR-U) for a longer window at extra cost.
Do I have to file if my employer already deducted TDS? Often yes — and you should, because a refund of excess TDS is paid only if you file, and filing on time preserves loss carry-forward.
Is filing with a CA worth it for a salaried person? For a single-salary, no-investment return, a good portal may suffice. The moment you add capital gains, two employers, HRA, RSUs, F&O or foreign assets, professional judgment on regime, form and reconciliation usually saves more than the fee.
Much of your tax is paid before you file, through TDS — by employers on salary, by banks on interest above the threshold, by companies on dividends, and by buyers on property. Every rupee of TDS appears in Form 26AS against your PAN, and your return claims credit for it. A refund arises when your total TDS and advance tax exceed your final liability — common for those with multiple TDS deductions or who invested in tax-saving instruments after their employer computed TDS. The refund is paid only to a pre-validated bank account linked to your PAN, so validating your account in advance avoids delays. Always cross-check that every TDS entry in 26AS is claimed; a missed credit is money left with the department.
If the department finds your return inconsistent — the wrong form for your income, a mismatch in mandatory fields, or missing schedules — it may issue a notice under Section 139(9) treating the return as defective. You typically get 15 days to respond and correct it through the portal. Ignore it and the return can be treated as invalid. Most defects come from form selection or incomplete schedules, both avoidable with a careful first filing. If you receive a defect notice, respond promptly with the corrected return rather than letting the window lapse.
Filing is not the end of your record-keeping. Retain your filed ITR and acknowledgement, Form 16/16A, capital-gains statements, deduction proofs, rent receipts and landlord PAN, and bank statements for at least a few years, because the department can reopen assessments within prescribed time limits. Organised records turn any future query — a 143(1) adjustment or a later notice — into a quick, evidenced reply rather than a scramble.
The non-audit filing due date is 31 July 2026; advance tax instalments fall on 15 June, 15 September, 15 December and 15 March (a single 15 March instalment for presumptive filers); belated and revised returns are generally allowed up to 31 December 2026; and e-verification must be completed within 30 days of filing. Building your personal calendar around these dates is the simplest way to stay penalty-free.
A free or low-cost portal handles a clean, single-salary return perfectly well, and there is no shame in self-filing when your affairs are simple. The calculus changes the moment your return involves judgment rather than data entry: choosing the optimal regime, picking the correct form, reconciling a messy AIS, ordering capital-loss set-offs, claiming HRA that will survive scrutiny, handling two Form 16s, or reporting RSUs and foreign assets. In those cases a professional typically recovers more than the fee through a correct regime choice, a preserved loss carry-forward, or simply by keeping you out of a notice cycle that costs days of your time. The test is simple: if you are guessing at any line, get a second set of eyes before you file.
Will I get a notice if I file at the last minute? Late filing itself is fine if before the deadline, but rushing raises the risk of a wrong form, an unreconciled AIS, or forgetting to verify — all of which can lead to a notice. File a week early instead.
Can I change my tax regime next year? Salaried taxpayers can choose afresh each year. Those with business or professional income face restrictions on switching back to the new regime after opting for the old one, so plan that choice carefully.
We file every ITR form for Pune individuals, NRIs, traders and professionals — reconciling your AIS, choosing the right regime, claiming every legitimate deduction, and verifying on the spot. With the 31 July 2026 deadline approaching, slots are limited. Book your filing at rdatax.in or call +91 77570 45059 — Office No. 102, Snehraj Apartment, Baner, Pune 411045.
Part of the Income Tax knowledge hub.
Every spoke article in the itr filing cluster. Open any one to drill in.
More on Income Tax
Who qualifies for the 6/8% (44AD), 50% (44ADA) and 44AE presumptive schemes, the turnover caps, cash vs digital rates, and the 5-year continuation rule — a Pune CA's complete guide.
Picking between the old and new tax regime for AY 2026-27 isn't a habit, it's a calculation. New is the default with lower slabs and a full rebate up to ₹12 lakh; old retains HRA, 80C, home-loan interest and 80D. Here is how to pick the regime that legitimately saves you more.