Income Tax

The salary is largely fixed once your deductions are set, but the freelance side is where the planning happens, presumptive taxation keeps it simple and light.

A record over 7.8 crore ITRs have been filed for assessment year (AY) 2026-27 till August 31, the income tax department said on Tuesday. Last year, over 7.3 crore income tax returns (ITRs) were filed by September 16, 2025, the extended deadline for filing returns for non-audit cases for AY 2025-26. " A record 7.8 crore+ ITRs have been filed for AY 2026-27 as on August 31,2026," the I-T department said in a X post. This also includes over 5.9 crore ITR-1 and ITR-2, which were filed by the due date of July 31. August 31, 2026, was the due date for filing ITRs for AY 2026-27 for taxpayers with business or professional income who are not subject to audit. If a taxpayer falls in the non-audit category, he/she can file the applicable ITR (ITR-3, ITR-4, ITR-5 or ITR-7). ITR-3 is filed by individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) with income from a proprietary business or profession. ITR-4 is a simpler form that caters to small and medium taxpayers. ITR-5 is filed by firms and Lim

The department is working with taxpayers and other stakeholders to reduce ambiguity and improve consistency as cross-border transactions and business structures become more complex

The income tax department has launched a drive to verify "suspicious" foreign remittances by entities with little or no reported business activity, the persons behind them, and the chartered accountants who issued tax determination certificates. Entities located in districts along India's land borders and remitting significant amounts of money abroad have also been covered in the exercise. The exercise has covered approximately 394 entities (including 117 entities located in land-border states), and 36 professionals, the department said in a post on X. "On August 18, the Department launched a nationwide detailed verification exercise to verify these (suspicious) foreign remittances, focusing on shell entities, the persons behind them, and the professionals who have issued Form 15CB certificates," the tax department said. The verification of suspicious foreign remittances follows data analysis and ground intelligence indicating significant overseas remittances by entities with littl

The government plans to widen tax incentives for offshore funds, electronics, data centres and diamond trading to attract long-term foreign investment and boost ease of doing business

The administration plans to table the Income Tax Amendment Bill in the lower house of Parliament as early as next week to replace the ordinance notified early June

Tax experts say one of the biggest misconceptions among taxpayers is that the income-tax department watches every small UPI transaction in real time

Legal heirs must bear in mind that the income tax return for the year of death must be filed and tax, if due, must be paid

The government told the Lok Sabha that the number of taxpayers reporting gross total income of ₹100 crore or more has quadrupled since assessment year 2021-22

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday urged the Income Tax department to work for the benefit of common people without making them run from pillar to post. She also went public with her disappointment at the "laidback" nature of government departments, which leads to illegal occupation or encroachments on government lands and underlined the need for integrity in conduct from all officials. Citing the challenges faced by the department in getting permissions to construct a building in the Nariman Point business district, which she inaugurated on Sunday, Sitharaman said these experiences, despite serving in the Indian Revenue Service (IRS), would have given them an idea of what the common man goes through. An IRS officer has the name of the Income Tax department behind him, a "powerful force to frighten people", Sitharaman reminded, adding that despite this, the officials had to run from pillar to post to get clearances from authorities to proceed with work on the 13-flo

Allahabad High Court said tax authorities cannot make an invalid notice valid by later adding a legal heir, and must instead issue fresh notice directly to legal representative within prescribed time

The court said the issue requires detailed examination and directed the Income Tax Department not to process judges' returns under the disputed arrangement

Contractual penalties imposed on Infosys for delay in IEC project, outages

Complete this task with care, as failure to disclose foreign assets with an aggregate value exceeding ₹20 lakh can attract a penalty of ₹10 lakh under the Black Money Act

CBDT has enabled foreign asset and overseas income information in the Annual Information Statement to help taxpayers accurately disclose such details in income tax returns

The income tax department has increased the Cost Inflation Index for the current fiscal for calculating long-term capital gains arising from the sale of immovable property, securities and jewellery. The Cost Inflation Index (CII) is used by taxpayers to calculate gains from the sale of capital assets after adjusting inflation. The Cost Inflation Index for FY 2026-27 is 384, as per a notification of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The CII for fiscal 2025-26 was 376. AMRG Global Managing Partner Rajat Mohan said the annual notification of the Cost Inflation Index reflects the government's commitment to maintaining an objective inflation-adjustment mechanism wherever indexation benefits continue under the new tax framework. It provides taxpayers, valuers and tax professionals with clarity for computing the indexed cost and reduces interpretational disputes, Mohan added. CII or Cost Inflation Index is notified under the Income-tax Act, 1961 every year. It is popularly used

The Delhi Tax Bar Association has challenged a CBDT memorandum that restricts tax benefits on judges' allowances to the old income-tax regime

Over 1.7 crore I-T returns have been filed for 2025-26 financial year so far, the Income Tax Department said on Saturday. The last date to file ITRs 1 and 2 for income earned in 2025-26 fiscal year is July 31. "Over 1.7 Crore taxpayers have already taken the smart step and filed their ITRs for A.Y. 2026-27," the department said on X. Of this, more than 10 lakh returns were filed on Friday. ITR Form 1 (Sahaj) is a simpler form that caters to a large number of small and medium taxpayers. Sahaj can be filed by a resident individual having annual income up to Rs 50 lakh and who has salary income, one house property, and agricultural income up to Rs 5,000 a year. ITR-2 is filed by individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) not having income from profits and gains in business or profession, but having income from capital gains.

The tax department will upload foreign financial information received under international information-sharing agreements into taxpayers' AIS and Form 26AS to improve transparency and compliance

No penalty is levied for revising a return, provided the original return was filed on time