ITR Filing Season Begins, Know The Key Documents, Important Steps & Mistakes That Could Trigger Penalties Or Tax Notices

Mumbai: The Income Tax Return (ITR) filing process for Financial Year (FY) 2025-26 has started, and taxpayers need to be careful while preparing and submitting their returns.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has enabled online filing and Excel utility for ITR-1 and ITR-4 for Assessment Year (AY) 2026-27.

An ITR is a document through which taxpayers report their income, taxes paid, investments, assets, losses and refund claims to the Income Tax Department.

Keep These Documents Ready Before Filing

Before starting the filing process, taxpayers should collect all important documents.

These include PAN card, Aadhaar details, Form 16, bank statements, interest certificates, donation receipts, insurance premium receipts and stock market transaction statements.

Taxpayers should also ensure that their bank account is linked with PAN and their Aadhaar-linked mobile number is active for e-verification.

Keeping these documents ready can make the filing process faster and help avoid mistakes.

How To File Your Return Online

Taxpayers can file their returns through the Income Tax e-filing portal.

After logging in, they need to select "File Income Tax Return", choose AY 2026-27, select their filing status and pick the correct ITR form based on their income sources.

Before submitting the return, taxpayers should compare details available in Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) with Form 16, bank records and investment statements.

After checking all details, the return should be validated and submitted.

Offline Filing Also Available

Taxpayers who prefer offline filing can use the Common Offline Utility available on the Income Tax Portal.

After downloading the utility, users can pre-fill available information, enter income and tax details, generate a JSON file and upload it on the portal.

The return must be verified after submission to complete the process.

Mistakes That Can Cost You

Many taxpayers make errors such as selecting the wrong ITR form, choosing the wrong assessment year, missing the filing deadline or failing to disclose all sources of income.

Claiming deductions without proper documents can also create problems.

Such mistakes may lead to defective returns, delayed refunds, penalties or notices from the Income Tax Department.

Taxpayers should remember that returns must be e-verified within 30 days of filing. Otherwise, the return will be treated as not filed.

Missing the deadline may attract a late fee of up to Rs 5,000 and can also affect the ability to carry forward certain losses.