Income Tax department releases ITR-2, ITR-3 excel utilities for AY26

The Income Tax (I-T) department has released Excel-based utilities for Income Tax Return (ITR) forms ITR-2 and ITR-3 for Assessment Year (AY) 2025-26, enabling taxpayers to begin offline filing for income earned during 2024-25 (FY25). These forms are usually made available by the end of April to support the standard ITR filing deadline of July 31. However, this year’s release was delayed due to various factors, and in anticipation of this, the government had already extended the due date for filing returns to September 15, 2025, for non-audit cases. 

While ITR-2 is meant for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) who have income from sources such as capital gains, multiple properties, foreign assets, or cryptocurrencies, but do not have income from business or profession, ITR-3 applies to those earning income from business or profession, including freelancers, sole proprietors, and partners in firms. The updated forms introduce significant changes, including separate reporting of capital gains earned before and after July 23, 2024 (to reflect revised tax rates), provisions for reporting losses from share buybacks where dividend income is disclosed, an increased asset-liability reporting threshold of ₹1 crore (up from ₹50 lakh), more detailed disclosures on deductions, foreign and crypto assets, and TDS section codes. 

Explaining the reasons behind the delay, Chetan Daga, founder of AdvantEdge Consulting, said: “There are certain changes required in the ITR forms due to changes in the law, notably the changes in the tax rates for capital gains with effect from July 23, 2024. Also, it seems that the tax department is working on a higher level of integration between the ITR utilities and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) data of the taxpayer. While the ITR utilities already contain a certain level of pre-filled information, it appears that the level of integration and pre-filled data is set to increase.” 

This enhanced integration aims to simplify compliance for taxpayers, and reduce errors in return-filing. “This measure shall certainly assist the taxpayers and make the tax return filing process smoother. Also, in due course, the tax department may even make the auto-filled data uneditable, thereby ensuring that tax evasion is checked,” Daga added. 

Taxpayers required to file ITR-2 or ITR-3 can now download the Excel utilities from the I-T department’s e-filing portal, fill in their details offline, generate a JSON file — a digital data file that stores your tax details in a format the e-filing system can read — and upload it back to the portal for filing. It is to be noted that online filing options for these forms are yet to be rolled out. “While individual taxpayers can proceed using the offline tool, many find the online utility more convenient and user-friendly. It is hoped that the online versions of ITR-2 and ITR-3 will be launched soon,” said Sonu Iyer, partner and national leader, People Advisory Services, EY India.