The 31 July deadline for ITR-1 and ITR-2 has just passed, and the 31 August deadline for business and professional returns (ITR-3 and ITR-4) is weeks away. If you missed the first one, or you are about to miss the second, you are not out of options. The Income-tax Act 2025, in force since 1 April 2026, keeps the belated and revised return routes alive — with new section numbers, one genuinely useful extension, and the same expensive consequences for waiting. Here is how the three routes work now.
Where the deadlines stand for tax year 2025-26
The new Act drops the old previous year / assessment year vocabulary. The return you file in 2026 is simply for tax year 2025-26. The original due dates under the Finance Act 2026 were 31 July for non-audit ITR-1 and ITR-2, 31 August for non-audit ITR-3 and ITR-4, and 31 October for audit cases. Everything below assumes you missed, or will miss, the date that applied to you.
| Route | Last date | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Belated return | 31 December 2026 | Fee under 428(b) + interest |
| Revised return | 31 March 2027 | Free if within nine months; fee after |
| Updated return (ITR-U) | Up to 48 months | Additional tax of 25% to 70% |
Belated return: file by 31 December 2026
If you never filed at all, you can still submit a belated return until 31 December 2026. The late fee, which used to sit in section 234F, now lives in section 428(b) of the new Act, and the amounts are unchanged: ₹1,000 if your total income is up to ₹5 lakh, and ₹5,000 in every other case. The fee is mandatory — there is no discretion to waive it.
The fee is only the visible cost. Interest on any unpaid tax keeps running at 1% per month from the original due date until you actually file and pay, so a small self-assessment balance grows every month you delay. The bigger, quieter cost is loss carry-forward: business losses and capital losses can only be carried forward if the return is filed by the original due date. File belated and those losses are gone for good — house property loss and unabsorbed depreciation are the main survivors. For a trader or business owner with a loss year, that alone can outweigh every other consequence on this page.
Revised return: a longer window, with a catch
Filed on time but spotted a mistake — a missed bank interest entry, a wrong deduction, an AIS mismatch? You can revise. This is where the new Act actually helps: the revised return window now runs to 31 March 2027 for tax year 2025-26, a full three months longer than the old 31 December cut-off. A belated return can also be revised within the same window.
The catch: revision is free only for the first nine months. Cross that line and a fee under section 428(b) applies. So treat 31 March as the backstop, not the plan — the earlier you revise, the cheaper it is, and the lower the odds that the mismatch surfaces first as an intimation under section 270(1). If you have already received one, start with our guide to intimation notices before you respond.
Updated return (ITR-U): the last resort
Miss even the belated deadline and one route remains: the updated return. The window is now 48 months from the end of the relevant tax year, but the price climbs steeply — additional tax of 25% of the extra tax and interest if you file within the first 12 months, rising through 50% and 60% to 70% in the final year. ITR-U also only works one way: you must be disclosing more income. You cannot use it to claim a refund, reduce your liability or increase a loss. It exists to let you fix an omission before the department finds it, and it is priced accordingly.
Which route applies to you
- Never filed for tax year 2025-26? File belated, before 31 December 2026. Every month of delay adds interest.
- Filed, but found an error? Revise — free within nine months, fee after, hard stop 31 March 2027.
- Missed 31 December too, and have extra income to disclose? ITR-U, within 48 months, at 25–70% additional tax. Sooner is dramatically cheaper.
- ITR-3/4 filer reading this before 31 August? You still have the original window. Use it — none of the above costs apply if you file on time.
Before filing any of these, recompute your liability so the interest and fee are paid correctly in one go — our free income tax calculator is updated for the new Act, and the compliance calendar has every remaining date for FY 2026-27.
How we can help
We file belated, revised and updated returns for salaried taxpayers, traders and business owners every season, including the messy ones — multiple years pending, AIS mismatches, losses at stake. If your ITR-3 or ITR-4 is still open, our ITR filing service can get it done before 31 August so none of this applies to you. If the deadline is already behind you, send us your details on WhatsApp and we will tell you the same day which route costs you least.
This article is general information, not tax advice. Rules and rates can change; confirm specifics for your business before acting.