Revised ITR Filing

If you discover a mistake or omission in a return you've already filed — missed income, a wrong deduction, incorrect details — you can file a revised return to correct it, within the time limit the law allows (generally before the end of the relevant assessment year or completion of assessment, whichever is earlier). For AY 2026-27 that means 31 March 2027, under section 139(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as substituted by the Finance Act, 2026 — or the date your return is assessed, if that comes first.

31 December is not the revised-return deadline, and treating it as one costs people a right they still have. For AY 2026-27 that date is two other things: the last day for a belated return under section 139(4), and the point after which revising attracts a fee under the new section 234-I — ₹1,000 if your total income is up to ₹5 lakh, ₹5,000 otherwise. Revision itself stays open until 31 March 2027. Because the two dates no longer coincide, a belated return can now be revised, which was impossible when both fell on the same day.

Which Act governs the correction depends on the year, not on today's date. AY 2026-27 covers the income of FY 2025-26 and is governed by the Income-tax Act, 1961, even though you are revising after 1 April 2026, when the Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force. The 2025 Act governs tax year 2026-27, where the equivalent power is section 263(5) and the window runs twelve months from the end of the tax year — 31 March 2028. Same shape, different statute, and the return itself is filed under whichever Act owns the year.

Beyond the revision window, an updated return (ITR-U) may still be possible in some cases, on payment of additional tax. It is a narrower instrument: only one may be filed for a tax year, and it cannot reduce your tax liability, increase a refund or create a larger loss. Either way, correcting voluntarily is far better than waiting for a notice.

Worked example — a missed interest certificate, AY 2026-27. Assumptions: resident individual, ITR-1 filed and e-verified on 20 July 2026 declaring total income of ₹9,20,000; in September a bank certificate arrives showing ₹48,000 of interest and ₹4,800 of TDS that were never included. Revised total income becomes ₹9,68,000. If the revised return goes in on, say, 10 October 2026, it is inside the nine-month point and no section 234-I fee applies — you pay only the additional tax on ₹48,000 at your slab rate, less the ₹4,800 TDS credit you are now claiming, plus any section 234B/234C interest if your advance tax fell short. If instead you file it on 20 February 2027, the revision is still valid — but a ₹5,000 section 234-I fee applies because total income exceeds ₹5 lakh. Wait past 31 March 2027, or until the return is assessed, and the right to revise is gone. Change any assumption and the number moves, which is why we compute it from your own figures.

We review what went wrong, prepare the corrected computation, and refile your return within the time available.