Missed the ITR deadline? Belated and revised returns by 31 December 2026

If your income-tax return for FY 2025-26 was not filed by its due date, the law still gives you a window to file it as a belated return under Section 139(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. If you filed on time but made a mistake – a missed interest income, a wrong deduction, a TDS credit that didn't match – you can correct it with a revised return under Section 139(5). For AY 2026-27 the two windows now close on different dates, and the difference matters.

The original due dates you may have missed

If the due date that applies to you has passed and you have not filed, the next step is a belated return.

Belated return – last date 31 December 2026

A belated return for AY 2026-27 can be filed up to 31 December 2026, or before the assessment is completed, whichever is earlier. It is the same ITR form you would have filed on time; the portal simply marks it as filed under Section 139(4). Filing late has a cost:

• Late fee under Section 234F – ₹5,000, or ₹1,000 if total income does not exceed ₹5 lakh. No fee if you were not required to file at all (income below the exemption limit).
• Interest under Section 234A – 1% per month or part of a month on any unpaid tax, from the day after the due date until you file.
• Losses cannot be carried forward – business losses, speculative losses and capital losses of the year are lost if the return is belated. (Loss from house property and unabsorbed depreciation are the exceptions.)
• Old tax regime is not available – the choice of the old regime has to be made in a return filed by the due date (or, for business income, through Form 10-IEA before the due date). A belated return is computed under the new regime by default, so deductions such as 80C, 80D and HRA are lost.
• Some deductions are lost – profit-linked deductions under Chapter VI-A (Part C), such as Sections 80-IA, 80-IAC and 80-IB, are allowed only if the return is filed by the due date.

Even so, a belated return is almost always better than not filing: it stops interest running, lets you claim your TDS refund, and keeps you out of the high-TDS and non-filer lists that follow a missed return.

Revised return – now up to 31 March 2027

The Finance Act, 2026 extended the time to revise a return. For AY 2026-27 a revised return – of an original or a belated return – can be filed up to 31 March 2027, or before the assessment is completed, whichever is earlier. There are now two stages:

So if you already know your return needs a correction, revise it before 31 December and avoid the fee. You can revise more than once within the window; each revised return replaces the previous one.

After 31 December 2026: only the updated return

If you have not filed at all by 31 December 2026, the belated-return route closes. What remains is the updated return (ITR-U) under Section 139(8A), which can be filed up to 48 months from the end of the assessment year – up to 31 March 2031 for AY 2026-27 – but with additional tax of 25% to 70% of the tax and interest, depending on how late you file. An updated return cannot be used to claim a refund, reduce your tax or increase a loss, and it cannot be filed once proceedings such as a search or a scrutiny notice for that year have started. In practice, 31 December is the last cheap date.

Checklist before you file

• Download Form 26AS and the AIS/TIS – match every TDS entry, interest, dividend and securities transaction with what you report.
• Pay any balance tax first – through e-Pay Tax as self-assessment tax (300) for AY 2026-27, including the 234F fee and interest; the return will not go through with tax unpaid.
• Pick the right form – business or professional income goes in ITR-3 or ITR-4, not ITR-1 or ITR-2.
• Verify within 30 days – a return is treated as filed only once it is e-verified (Aadhaar OTP, net banking or DSC) or the signed ITR-V reaches CPC.

Frequently asked questions