CA K Sanjay BhargavChartered Accountant
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Income Tax & ITR Filing

Income tax return filing for every kind of taxpayer — salaried professionals, business owners, contractors, freelancers, and individuals with capital gains or foreign income. The right return, filed under the correct head with the correct form, is what secures your refund, protects your loss carry-forward, and keeps you clear of notices. Filing for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27) is open.

Who this is for

This service covers the full range of individual and business returns: salaried employees and pensioners; resident employees of multinational companies holding foreign shares, RSUs or ESOPs (see our dedicated foreign-income page); business owners, traders, and professionals; civil and labour contractors and sub-contractors; freelancers and consultants; and individuals with capital gains from property, shares, or mutual funds. Whether your return is straightforward or involves multiple income heads, it is prepared, reconciled, and filed correctly.

Due dates for AY 2026-27

The deadline now depends on your category, not a single common date:

  • 31 July 2026 — salaried and other non-business taxpayers (ITR-1, ITR-2).
  • 31 August 2026 — business and professional income, non-audit cases (ITR-3, ITR-4). This extended date is now a permanent provision.
  • 31 October 2026 — cases requiring a tax audit under Section 44AB.
  • 30 November 2026 — cases with international or specified domestic transactions requiring a transfer-pricing report (Form 3CEB).
  • A belated return may be filed up to 31 December 2026, and a revised return up to 31 March 2027, in each case with applicable consequences.

The date turns on audit liability rather than the form number — an ITR-3 filer liable to audit still follows 31 October. Which form applies to your entity, and the deadline that follows from it, is set out in which ITR form applies to your business; whether the presumptive basis is the right election, and the five-year consequence of leaving it, in Section 44AD or regular books.

Filing before your due date preserves your right to carry forward losses and keeps your refund in the regular processing queue.

What’s covered

  • Choice of scheme, done deliberately: presumptive taxation versus regular books — computed both ways where it matters, so you don’t overpay simply because one option was the default. Under Section 44AD (business), the presumptive scheme is available up to ₹2 crore turnover, raised to ₹3 crore where cash receipts are 5% or less of total receipts; under Section 44ADA (profession), it is available up to ₹50 lakh gross receipts, raised to ₹75 lakh where cash receipts are 5% or less of total receipts.
  • Old vs new regime comparison — calculated, not guessed.
  • TDS reconciliation against Form 26AS and AIS so every rupee deducted is claimed; mismatches are fixed before they become notices.
  • Capital gains from property or shares/mutual funds (broker statements processed scrip-wise).
  • Advance tax planning for the current year so interest under 234B/234C doesn’t repeat.
  • Responses to defective-return notices (139(9)) and rectifications where past filings have issues.

What to send on WhatsApp

PAN, last year’s return (if any), bank statements, and any Form 16/16A (Form 130 from FY 2026-27). Everything else — AIS, 26AS — is pulled from the portal with your OTP. You receive a draft computation for approval before anything is filed.

If you are bidding for work or seeking a facility

Contractors and small businesses are routinely asked for financials by a bank or a tender authority, and a presumptive return is a weak document to hand over. Where a working-capital limit or term loan is in contemplation, the lender will want a CMA report for a bank loan built from properly prepared accounts — which is a different exercise from filing a return, and one that is far easier where the books already reconcile to what has been filed.

Which ITR form, and when a tax audit applies

Under presumptive taxation you declare a fixed percentage of receipts as income and skip detailed books: Section 44ADA lets eligible professionals declare 50% of gross receipts as income, up to ₹50 lakh (₹75 lakh where cash receipts are 5% or less); under Section 44AD, businesses declare 8% of turnover (6% on digital receipts), up to ₹2 crore (₹3 crore on the same 5%-cash condition). Presumptive filers use ITR-4; those keeping regular books, or with capital gains or foreign assets, use ITR-3 (or ITR-2 where there is no business income).

A tax audit under Section 44AB becomes mandatory once turnover crosses the threshold (₹1 crore for business, extended to ₹10 crore where cash receipts and payments are each 5% or less; ₹50 lakh flat for professionals), and also where a presumptive taxpayer declares income below the presumptive rate and exceeds the basic exemption limit. And under the Section 44AD(4) lock-in, opting out of the presumptive scheme once used bars it for the next five years and can require an audit in those years. Whether any of this applies to you is confirmed against your numbers before filing.

Frequently asked questions

My turnover is in cash / my books are incomplete.

That's common for contractors. Presumptive schemes exist for exactly this situation; what matters is choosing the scheme correctly and matching the return to your bank and TDS data.

I haven't filed for previous years.

Belated and updated returns (ITR-U) are possible for certain periods, and filing them proactively is far better than waiting for a notice.

GST and income tax — do the numbers need to match?

The department cross-checks GST turnover against ITR turnover. Keeping them consistent is part of the service.

How long does it take?

With documents in hand, a standard return is typically filed within 2–3 working days; complex cases get a timeline upfront.

I'm a salaried employee but I also have capital gains / foreign shares / F&O trades. Which return?

Not ITR-1. Capital gains and foreign assets require ITR-2; business or F&O/intraday income requires ITR-3. Choosing the right form is part of the service — the wrong form is a common cause of defective-return notices.

Have a question? Send it on WhatsApp.

Describe your matter or send the document. You get a clear assessment — what it means, what's needed, the timeline and the fee — before any commitment.