That overlap is the thread running through everything below. Some things about filing your return this year have genuinely changed. A lot more has simply carried over from last year, despite the noise around a "new tax law."

Key takeaways

• The return you file now, for income earned in FY 2025-26, still follows the old 1961 Act. The new Income-tax Act, 2025 only applies from next year's filing.

• ITR-3 and ITR-4 filers without an audit requirement get until August 31, 2026, a permanent one-month extension from the usual July 31 date.

• The revised-return window has been pushed to March 31, 2027, three months later than before.

• The ₹12 lakh zero-tax threshold under the new regime, introduced in Budget 2025, carries over unchanged.

Which tax law actually governs this year's return?

Confusion here is understandable, but the answer is simple. Assessment Year 2026-27 covers income earned in FY 2025-26, and that income is taxed under the old Income-tax Act, 1961, in full (Income Tax Department, 2026). April 1, 2026 is when the new Act took effect, and it covers only income earned from that date onward.

On the e-filing portal itself, the Income Tax Department has flagged this distinction. Any documentation prepared this season should still reference the 1961 Act, not the 2025 one (Income Tax Department, 2026). Returns for FY 2026-27 won't come due until 2027, and only then will the new Act touch a live filing.

What changed: why deadlines now depend on the form you file

No single date applies to everyone anymore. Salaried individuals filing ITR-1 or ITR-2 still file by July 31, 2026, but taxpayers filing ITR-3 or ITR-4 without an audit requirement now have until August 31, 2026, a full month more. Small businesses and professionals gain real breathing room from this change. It is a permanent amendment to Section 139(1) under the Finance Act, 2026, not a one-off extension of the kind the CBDT has occasionally granted in past years.

Businesses and professionals requiring a tax audit continue to file by October 31, 2026, with the audit report due a month earlier. Transfer-pricing cases get until November 30, 2026.

What changed: how far does ITR-1 eligibility now stretch?

ITR-1, the simplest form, has been expanded. Previously it worked only for a taxpayer with one house property; for AY 2026-27, it accepts income from up to two house properties. More salaried filers and pensioners should now be able to stay off the longer ITR-2 form as a result.

Long-term capital gains up to ₹1.25 lakh under Section 112A are also allowed on ITR-1, though that change actually arrived last year and simply continues. A resident individual with total income up to ₹50 lakh can still use ITR-1 even with modest listed-equity gains, provided there are no carried-forward losses. Anyone with capital gains above that threshold, foreign income, or unlisted shares still needs ITR-2 or higher.

What changed: how much more time do you get to fix mistakes?

Two changes give taxpayers more breathing room after filing. Section 139(5) now allows a revised return until March 31 of the assessment year, so March 31, 2027 for this cycle, instead of the earlier December 31 cut-off. The updated-return window under Section 139(8A) got a similar boost. A Finance Act 2025 amendment stretched it to 48 months from the end of the assessment year. Conditions apply, but losses declared in an updated return can now be carried forward, which was restricted before.

None of this touches advance tax obligations. Four installments were due on their usual dates through FY 2025-26 regardless of when the return itself gets filed, and interest under Sections 234B and 234C runs independently of the filing date (CAclubindia, 2026).

What changed: which new boxes do you now have to fill in?

Disclosure requirements have crept up in specific places rather than across the board. A deduction under Section 80G now requires the donation's bank IFSC code and transaction reference number, tightening the trail on charitable-donation claims (ClearTax, 2026). Schedule AL, which reports assets and liabilities, now kicks in only above ₹1 crore of total income, a threshold confirmed in the CBDT's own ITR-2 validation rules for AY 2026-27, up from the ₹50 lakh mark that applied before (Income Tax Department, 2026; ClearTax, 2026).

Capital gains reporting keeps the split introduced last year in at least one important place. Schedule 112A in ITR-2 still asks whether a listed share or mutual fund unit was transferred before or on/after July 23, 2024, because the tax treatment changed around that date (VisaVerge, 2026). That cut-off gets asked for where it changes the outcome, while a transaction-by-transaction date trail gets skipped where a broader classification is enough for computation.

What hasn't changed: is ₹12 lakh still the tax-free number?

Budget 2025 raised the Section 87A rebate under the new tax regime from ₹25,000 to ₹60,000, effectively making income up to ₹12 lakh tax-free, up from the earlier ₹7 lakh threshold (Business Standard, 2026). Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the time that roughly one crore additional taxpayers would owe no income tax as a result (Tribune India, 2026). Budget 2026 left that rebate untouched for this filing season. For a salaried taxpayer, the ₹75,000 standard deduction pushes the effective tax-free threshold to about ₹12.75 lakh (1Finance, 2026).

Marginal relief still applies just above the ₹12 lakh mark, so a taxpayer earning slightly more than the threshold doesn't face a disproportionate jump in tax (Ujjivan SFB, 2026). Slab rates, the new regime's default status, and the old regime's ₹5 lakh rebate threshold all carry over from last year without amendment (ClearTax, 2026). None of this required any action from taxpayers this year; it simply continues.

What hasn't changed: do you still need the same paperwork?

Documents this season are the same ones taxpayers gathered last year. Form 16 from employers, the Annual Information Statement, the Taxpayer Information Summary, and Form 26AS remain the core records to reconcile before filing (Income Tax Return Filings Due Dates, 2026). Deductions under Section 80C, Section 80D, HRA under Section 10(13A), and home loan interest under Section 24(b) remain exactly as they were for anyone filing under the old regime (CompuTax, 2026). Seven ITR forms still map to the same taxpayer categories: ITR-1 and ITR-4 for simpler cases, ITR-2 for individuals with capital gains or foreign assets, ITR-3 for business and professional income, and ITR-5 through ITR-7 for firms, companies, and trusts (BusinessToday, 2026).

What hasn't changed: what it costs to miss the deadline

Late filing still costs money. Section 234F imposes a fee of up to ₹5,000, interest keeps accruing on unpaid tax, and certain losses lose their right to carry forward (India First Life, 2026). A belated return remains an option after the due date, up to December 31, 2026 for this cycle, but those same penalties attach to it (Income Tax Return Filings Due Dates, 2026).

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to worry about the new Income-tax Act, 2025 this year?

No. Returns for FY 2025-26 are governed entirely by the old Income-tax Act, 1961. The new Act applies only to income earned from April 1, 2026 onward, which will be reported in the filing season that opens in 2027 (Income Tax Department, 2026).

What's the actual deadline for my return? 

July 31, 2026 for ITR-1 and ITR-2 filers. August 31, 2026 for ITR-3 and ITR-4 filers not subject to audit. October 31, 2026 for audit cases, and November 30, 2026 for transfer-pricing cases.

Can I still switch from ITR-2 to ITR-1 this year if I have small equity gains? 

Yes, provided your total income stays under ₹50 lakh, your long-term capital gains under Section 112A don't exceed ₹1.25 lakh, and you have no carried-forward losses.

Has the tax-free income limit changed from last year? 

No. Income up to ₹12 lakh under the new regime remains tax-free through the Section 87A rebate, a Budget 2025 change that Budget 2026 left in place.

What happens if I file after my deadline? 

Filing stays possible through a belated return by December 31, 2026. Expect a late fee under Section 234F, interest on any tax owed, and limits on carrying forward certain losses.

The bottom line

This season's headline changes sit at the edges: a longer runway for non-audit business filers, more time to correct an error, and a handful of new disclosure fields. Slabs, the rebate, and the documents you gather before you start make up the core of the system, and that core stays exactly where it was last year. A full year still separates the new Income-tax Act from touching an actual return..

This article is for general information and does not constitute investment or tax advice. Tax rules can change, and individual circumstances vary; readers should verify current provisions before filing. Vijay InvestEdge Pvt. Ltd. is an AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor (ARN-1777).