Revised and Updated Returns After Finance Act 2026
- First, the due dates the other deadlines hang on
- AY 2026-27 (FY 2025-26): what the Finance Act, 2026 changed
- Tax year 2026-27 onwards: the 2025 Act rules
- Choosing the route
- Where this fits
If you find a mistake in an income-tax return you have already filed, you have two routes. A revised return replaces the original, and for AY 2026-27 it can be filed until 31 March 2027. The Finance Act, 2026 extended that window, but a new fee applies to revisions filed late in it. An updated return is for later corrections that increase your income or tax. It is available for several years afterwards, but only with additional tax on top of the tax and interest due.
The Finance Act, 2026 changed both routes twice over. It amended the Income-tax Act, 1961, which governs the return for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), and the Income-tax Act, 2025, which governs tax year 2026-27 onwards. This page takes each in turn.
First, the due dates the other deadlines hang on
The Finance Act, 2026 rewrote the due-date table for both Acts: section 139(1), Explanation 2, of the 1961 Act, and section 263(1)(c) of the 2025 Act. The dates are the same in both:
| Who | Due date |
|---|---|
| Anyone with international or specified domestic transactions requiring a transfer-pricing report (partners and spouses included) | 30 November |
| Companies; persons whose accounts must be audited; partners of such firms | 31 October |
| Persons with business or professional income whose accounts need no audit; partners of such firms | 31 August |
| Everyone else, including most salaried individuals | 31 July |
For AY 2026-27 the 1961 Act table applies, deemed substituted from 1 March 2026. From tax year 2026-27 the 2025 Act table applies, with the date falling in the financial year after the tax year. Note the separate 31 August date for business and professional income where no audit is required.
AY 2026-27 (FY 2025-26): what the Finance Act, 2026 changed
Revised return: until 31 March 2027
Section 5 of the Finance Act, 2026 substituted section 139(5), with effect from 1 March 2026. A person who finds an omission or wrong statement in a return filed under section 139(1) or 139(4) may, “subject to the provisions of section 234-I”, furnish a revised return:
“at any time before the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of the assessment, whichever is earlier.”
For AY 2026-27 the end of the assessment year is 31 March 2027. The Income Tax Department’s e-filing help pages give the same date. A belated return under section 139(4) for AY 2026-27 can be filed until 31 December 2026, or before assessment is completed, whichever is earlier.
The new section 234-I fee
Section 16 of the Finance Act inserted section 234-I, also from 1 March 2026. The fee is:
- ₹1,000 if total income does not exceed ₹5,00,000;
- ₹5,000 in any other case.
It applies when a revised return under section 139(5) is furnished “beyond nine months but before twelve months from the end of the relevant assessment year”.
A point to watch. Read literally, the window in section 234-I is measured from the end of the assessment year. Section 139(5) itself allows revision only until the end of the assessment year. The equivalent 2025 Act provision, section 428(b), measures nine months from the end of the tax year, which is the financial year. Under that reading the fee would bite on revisions filed between 1 January and 31 March 2027. We are not aware of an official clarification on the 1961 Act wording. Assume a fee may be charged for a revision filed after 31 December 2026, and check what the e-filing utility computes when you file.
Updated return: two changes
Updated returns for years under the 1961 Act are filed under section 139(8A), with additional tax under section 140B. The Finance Act, 2026 made two changes, both from 1 March 2026:
- In response to a reassessment notice. A new proviso to section 139(8A) lets a person furnish an updated return in response to a notice under section 148, within the period in the notice. Having done so, they cannot file a return in response to that notice in any other manner. New section 140B(3A) adds a further 10% of the aggregate tax and interest to the additional tax in that case.
- Loss years. Updated returns are now also permitted where they reduce a loss, not only where the updated return is a return of income, for a person who filed a return of loss.
Tax year 2026-27 onwards: the 2025 Act rules
| Return | Provision | Time limit for tax year 2026-27 | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 263(1) | By the due date in the table above (for most individuals, 31 July 2027) | — |
| Belated | 263(4) | Within nine months from the end of the tax year: 31 December 2027, or before assessment is completed | Fee under 428(a): ₹1,000 if total income ≤ ₹5 lakh, otherwise ₹5,000 |
| Revised | 263(5), as substituted | Within twelve months from the end of the tax year: 31 March 2028, or before assessment is completed | Fee under 428(b) if filed beyond nine months (after 31 December 2027): ₹1,000 or ₹5,000 |
| Updated | 263(6) | Within 48 months from the end of the financial year succeeding the tax year: 31 March 2032 | Additional tax under 267(5), below |
Additional tax on an updated return
Section 267(5), as substituted by the Finance Act, 2026, sets the additional income-tax as a share of the aggregate tax and interest payable. The share depends on when the updated return is furnished after the belated/revised window has expired:
| Furnished (measured from the end of the financial year after the tax year) | For tax year 2026-27, roughly | Additional tax |
|---|---|---|
| After the revised-return window closes, before 12 months | 1 April 2028 to 31 March 2029 | 25% |
| 12 to 24 months | 1 April 2029 to 31 March 2030 | 50% |
| 24 to 36 months | 1 April 2030 to 31 March 2031 | 60% |
| 36 to 48 months | 1 April 2031 to 31 March 2032 | 70% |
If the updated return is filed in response to a notice under section 280 (the 2025 Act’s reassessment notice), within the period in that notice, a further 10% of the tax and interest is added (section 267(5)(ii)). To work out the percentage and amount for a particular filing date, use the updated return additional-tax calculator.
Worked example. Karan filed his tax year 2026-27 return on time. In June 2029 he realises he left out ₹2,00,000 of interest income. The tax on it, plus interest for the delay, comes to ₹48,000 (an illustrative figure).
- June 2029 is between 12 and 24 months after 31 March 2028.
- The additional tax is therefore 50% of ₹48,000, which is ₹24,000.
- Karan pays ₹72,000 in total with the updated return.
- Had he corrected it by 31 March 2028 through a revised return, he would have paid the tax and interest due at that point, plus the section 428(b) fee (₹5,000 at his income level) if filed after 31 December 2027.
When an updated return is not allowed
Section 263(6)(c) lists cases where the updated-return route is closed. Among them:
- the updated return is a return of loss, subject to the loss-year exception;
- it decreases the tax liability;
- it creates or increases a refund;
- an updated return has already been filed for that year;
- assessment, reassessment, recomputation or revision is pending or completed for that year;
- the tax authority has communicated information about violation of specified laws.
An updated return is for paying more, never for claiming more back.
Choosing the route
- Still within the revised-return window? Revise. Beyond any tax and interest due, the cost is at most the fixed fee, and a revised return can reduce tax or raise a refund as well as increase them.
- Window closed, and the correction increases income or tax? File an updated return. The earlier you file, the lower the additional-tax percentage.
- Window closed, and the correction would reduce tax? An updated return cannot do this. Other remedies depend on the stage of assessment and need professional advice.
- Received a reassessment notice? The new rules let you respond with an updated return, at the extra 10% cost. Weigh that against contesting the notice.
Where this fits
- Picking the right form first time: which ITR form should you file
- If the department writes to you: how to respond to an income tax notice
- Mismatches that trigger corrections: fixing a TDS mismatch
- Keeping losses alive by filing on time: capital loss set-off and carry forward
Sources. Finance Act, 2026, sections 5, 6, 16, 66, 67, 68 and 96, Gazette of India, 30 March 2026. Income-tax Act, 2025, section 263(4)–(6), Gazette of India, 21 August 2025. Income Tax Department, e-filing help: Income Tax Returns (belated and revised return dates for AY 2026-27).