<p>The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/search?q=Income%20tax">Income Tax</a> Department has opened the filing window for Income Tax Returns (ITR) for Assessment Year 2026-27, enabling online filing and Excel utilities for ITR-1 and ITR-4 forms on its e-filing portal.</p><p>The department announced the rollout in a post on X on Friday, allowing taxpayers to begin the return filing process earlier than usual. The move is expected to benefit salaried employees, freelancers and small businesses preparing to file their returns for the financial year 2025-26.</p><p>ITR-1, also known as Sahaj, is meant for resident individuals with income from salary, one house property and other sources such as interest, with total income up to Rs 50 lakh. ITR-4, or Sugam, is meant for individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and firms with presumptive income from business and profession.</p>.<p>The Income Tax Department has also made available Excel utilities for both forms. These offline tools allow taxpayers to fill in income and deduction details, validate the information and generate a JSON file, which can then be uploaded to the income tax portal for final submission.</p>.Income tax rule changes from April 1; Key changes explained.<p>The Excel utilities are often used by taxpayers who prefer preparing returns offline before uploading them online. They also serve as an alternative in cases where full online filing functionality is rolled out in phases.</p><p>The department urged taxpayers to use the official e-filing portal for filing returns and related updates.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/search?q=Income%20tax">Income Tax</a> Department has opened the filing window for Income Tax Returns (ITR) for Assessment Year 2026-27, enabling online filing and Excel utilities for ITR-1 and ITR-4 forms on its e-filing portal.</p><p>The department announced the rollout in a post on X on Friday, allowing taxpayers to begin the return filing process earlier than usual. The move is expected to benefit salaried employees, freelancers and small businesses preparing to file their returns for the financial year 2025-26.</p><p>ITR-1, also known as Sahaj, is meant for resident individuals with income from salary, one house property and other sources such as interest, with total income up to Rs 50 lakh. ITR-4, or Sugam, is meant for individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and firms with presumptive income from business and profession.</p>.<p>The Income Tax Department has also made available Excel utilities for both forms. These offline tools allow taxpayers to fill in income and deduction details, validate the information and generate a JSON file, which can then be uploaded to the income tax portal for final submission.</p>.Income tax rule changes from April 1; Key changes explained.<p>The Excel utilities are often used by taxpayers who prefer preparing returns offline before uploading them online. They also serve as an alternative in cases where full online filing functionality is rolled out in phases.</p><p>The department urged taxpayers to use the official e-filing portal for filing returns and related updates.</p>
