ITR Filing (Individual) in India 2026

Filing your Income Tax Return is not optional paperwork, it is a legal obligation under section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act 1961, and the consequences of getting it wrong or missing the deadline are immediate and real. As of assessment year 2026-27, non-filers risk a ₹5,000 penalty under section 234F, loss of carry-forward losses, and complications when applying for home loans, visas, or government tenders. Whether you earn salary income alone or run a freelance practice, the right ITR form, the right disclosures, and the right e-filing sequence on the incometax.gov.in portal matter at every step. KAMRIT Financial Services LLP manages the complete cycle: document collection, form selection, tax computation, e-filing, and post-filing verification, so you stay compliant without navigating the CBDT portal yourself.

What is ITR Filing (Individual) in India 2026?

Income Tax Return (ITR) filing for an individual is the process of disclosing your income, claiming deductions under Chapter VI-A, computing tax liability, and filing the return electronically on the Income Tax Department's e-filing portal (incometax.gov.in) under the Income Tax Act 1961. The return must be filed in the appropriate ITR form notified by the CBDT via Rule 12 of the Income Tax Rules, 1962. ITR-1 (Sahaj) applies to resident individuals with salary and pension income plus one house property and interest. ITR-2 applies when you have capital gains, foreign income, or more than one house property. ITR-3 applies when you carry on a business or profession, including freelancers and professionals under the presumptive taxation schemes of sections 44AD and 44ADA. The filing window for AY 2026-27 opens on 1 April 2026 and closes on 31 July 2026 for non-audit cases, with late filing attracting interest under section 234A at 1% per month on tax due. The Income Tax Department owns the portal; the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) frames the rules; and the jurisdictional Income Tax Officer (ITO) processes refunds and issuance of notices.

Who needs this

You must file an ITR if your income exceeds the basic exemption limit or if you meet any of the specific triggers below, regardless of whether tax was deducted at source.

• Gross total income exceeds ₹3,00,000 in a financial year (₹3,50,000 for super senior citizens aged 80+; ₹2,50,000 for senior citizens aged 60-80) before claiming deductions under section 80C to 80U.
• Tax deducted at source (TDS) appears in your Form 16 or 16A even if gross income is below the exemption limit.
• You hold foreign assets or foreign bank accounts at any point during the financial year, requiring disclosure under section 59 of the Finance Act 2016.
• You have income from capital gains on listed or unlisted securities, requiring disclosure in Schedule CG and Schedule 112A/115AD.
• You have agricultural income exceeding ₹5,000 in a financial year and your non-agricultural income exceeds ₹3,00,000.
• You claim remittance of income from a source outside India or hold assets outside India under the Black Money Act 2014.
• You are a freelancer or professional with gross receipts exceeding ₹75,00,000 (under section 44AD) or ₹37,50,000 (under section 44ADA), respectively.
• You own more than one house property, including under construction, requiring disclosure in Schedule HP.
• You claim a refund of excess TDS and need to file to claim it.
• You intend to carry forward losses such as house property loss or capital loss to future years.

Documents required

The document stack depends on your income head and the ITR form applicable. KAMRIT collects these at kickoff so computation is accurate before the portal is accessed.

• Form 16 Part A and Part B from your employer, showing gross salary, deductions under Chapter VI-A, and TDS certificate details under section 203.
• Form 16A, 16B, or 16C (TDS on interest, rent, or contract payments) as applicable, issued by deductor under section 203.
• PAN card copy and Aadhaar card copy, linked and e-KYC verified on the e-filing portal.
• Bank statements for all operative accounts (savings, current, overdraft) for the full financial year showing interest income, required under Schedule SI for deemed income.
• Salary slips or pay slips for the complete financial year to reconcile gross salary against Form 16.
• Home loan interest certificate (Form 16B or lender statement) for house property loss or deduction under section 24(b), capped at ₹2,00,000 per annum for self-occupied property.
• Capital gain statement from broker or Demat account with STT/CTT paid details for Schedule CG computation.
• Investment proofs: Section 80C (life insurance, PPF, ELSS, EPF, home loan principal), 80D (health insurance premium receipt), 80E to 80TTB receipts as applicable.
• Rental agreement and rent receipts if you earn rental income from a property, for Schedule HP computation.
• Business or professional receipts and expense invoices if filing ITR-3, with Form 26AS verification.
• Form 26AS from the TRACES portal (incometax.gov.in/portal) reconciling all TDS entries against your PAN.
• Advance Tax payment challans (Form 280) if you received income not subject to TDS during the financial year.

How KAMRIT runs it, step by step

KAMRIT follows a structured six-step engagement from document intake to post-filing confirmation. Each step is logged and you receive a tracker link.

1. Document Intake and Income Mapping. You submit your documents via KAMRIT's client portal or WhatsApp-assigned folder. Our team maps every income head, salary, house property, capital gains, other sources, against the relevant Schedule in the ITR form. Form 26AS is pulled from the TRACES portal simultaneously to cross-verify all TDS entries. Any mismatch between Form 16 and Form 26AS is flagged within 24 hours of submission.
2. ITR Form Selection and Tax Computation. Based on the income mapping, we determine the correct ITR form: ITR-1 for salary-only cases, ITR-2 for multiple income sources or capital gains, or ITR-3 for business and professional income. Tax is computed under the applicable slabs for AY 2026-27, including the rebate under section 87A for individuals with net income up to ₹7,00,000. We generate a draft computation sheet and share it with you for sign-off before proceeding.
3. Deduction Verification and Schedule Population. Every Chapter VI-A deduction you claim, 80C investments, 80D health insurance, 80E education loan interest, 80G donations, 80TTB for senior citizens, is verified against your supporting documents. Exempt income under Schedule E (house rent allowance, leave travel concession) is segregated from taxable income. The draft return is prepared in XML format for the e-filing portal.
4. E-Filing Portal Submission. The completed return is uploaded to the Income Tax e-filing portal (incometax.gov.in) using the DSC (Digital Signature Certificate) method for ITR-3 or via Aadhaar OTP validation for ITR-1 and ITR-2. For ITR-3 with business income, e-Verification via DSC is preferred to avoid ITR-V print-and-verify delays. The acknowledgment (ITR-V) is generated and sent to you within minutes of submission.
5. e-Verification and ITR-V Processing. If not using DSC, you e-Verify within 30 days using net banking, Aadhaar OTP, or bank account validation on the e-filing portal. KAMRIT monitors the verification status daily. Once verified, the ITR is processed by the CPC Bengaluru under section 143(1); refund cases typically see processing within 30 to 60 days of verification.
6. Post-Filing Review and Refund Tracking. After processing, KAMRIT reviews the intimation under section 143(1), checking that tax computed matches our computation and that all deductions are allowed. If a notice under section 139(9) (defective return) or 143(2) (scrutiny) is issued, we draft the response within the statutory reply window and represent on your behalf. Refund status is tracked on the portal and updated to you weekly.

Timeline

From the day you submit all required documents, KAMRIT completes income mapping, form selection, and draft computation within 2 working days for ITR-1 and within 4 working days for ITR-2 and ITR-3 with capital gains or business income. E-filing submission is executed on the same day or the next working day once you sign off on the computation. The e-Verification step is regulator-controlled: if using Aadhaar OTP or net banking, verification is immediate; if sending the ITR-V by post to CPC Bengaluru, add 10 to 15 days for postal transit. Post-verification, the Income Tax Department's CPC typically issues an intimation under section 143(1) within 21 to 45 days for refunds and 45 to 90 days for non-refund cases. Refund credit to your bank account, when approved, happens within 5 to 7 working days after the intimation. Scrutiny notices, if selected under CASS (Computer Assisted Scrutiny System), add an indeterminate timeline of 6 to 18 months. KAMRIT-managed returns with clean income sources generally close within 30 to 45 days of document submission. Total end-to-end range for ITR-1 and ITR-2: 3 to 6 weeks. For ITR-3 with business income: 4 to 8 weeks.

How our pricing compares

KAMRIT's ITR-1 package is priced at ₹699; ITR-2 at ₹1,099; and ITR-3 at ₹2,499, all inclusive of form selection, tax computation, e-filing submission, and one round of post-filing review. Government fees for ITR filing are ₹0 for individuals as of 2026, so the entire fee is KAMRIT's professional charge. ClearTax charges ₹999 for ITR-1 and ₹1,999 for ITR-2, with an additional ₹1,500 to ₹2,500 if you need assisted review for capital gains or business income. Tally's ITR filing add-on starts at ₹1,199 per return for its standalone product and does not include document reconciliation with Form 26AS. Zoho Books offers ITR filing integration starting at ₹1,499 per year but requires you to input all data manually. For ITR-3 with business income, LegalRaasta charges ₹2,999 and IndiaFilings ₹3,299, making KAMRIT's ₹2,499 the most competitive of the named assisted-filing competitors while including DSC-based e-filing and a post-filing review session. KAMRIT does not charge separately for PAN verification, Form 26AS reconciliation, or communication with the CPC; these are bundled. Where KAMRIT adds genuine value over budget preparers is in Schedule CG computation for capital gains, Schedule HP for multiple properties, and proactive notice management under sections 139(9) and 143(2).

Common mistakes KAMRIT avoids

Even financially literate filers make these errors, resulting in notices, refund delays, or loss of deductions. KAMRIT's pre-filing checklist is designed specifically to prevent each one.

• Filing ITR-1 when you have capital gains or two house properties, you must use ITR-2 or ITR-3 respectively; using the wrong form triggers a defective return notice under section 139(9).
• Not reconciling Form 26AS against Form 16, TDS claimed by a deductor but not reflecting in Form 26AS will cause a tax demand at processing.
• Missing advance tax payments, if you earn rental income or professional income without TDS, omitting the ₹280 challan advance tax triggers interest under section 234B at 1% per month.
• Claiming Section 80C deduction above the ₹1,50,000 ceiling, the combined limit under 80C, 80CCC, and 80CCD(1) is ₹1,50,000; excess claims are disallowed and trigger a demand.
• Forgetting to report exempt income in Schedule E, HRA exemption and LTA are not entered in gross income, but must be shown separately in the return.
• Not mentioning bank account linked to PAN for refund, the ITR will still process, but the refund will be stuck until you update the prevalidated bank account on the e-filing portal.
• Uploading a house property loss under Schedule HP when the property is deemed to be let out at fair rent but you declared it self-occupied, the tax treatment changes entirely and the loss claim will be wrong.
• Missing the July 31 deadline for non-audit cases and filing late, triggering a ₹5,000 penalty under section 234F plus monthly interest under 234A on any tax due.