Missed the ITR Deadline? Belated, Revised and Updated Returns Explained

Three different returns, three different deadlines, three very different costs. As at 22 October 2026, the original due dates for non-audit returns for AY 2026-27 (31 July and 31 August) have passed, so most people reading this need a belated return, due by 31 December 2026. People mix the three up constantly, usually at the point where the cheap option has already expired.

First: check whether you actually missed anything

Budget 2026 introduced staggered deadlines. Not everyone was due on 31 July.

If you have business or professional income and are not subject to audit, your date was 31 August 2026 and it has passed, so the belated route below applies to you too. If your accounts need a tax audit, your return is not late yet: it is due 21 November 2026. The audit report was due 21 October 2026, so file it now if it is still pending.

The three returns

Belated return, until 31 December 2026

A return filed after your due date but within the Section 139(4) window.

Cost: ₹1,000 under Section 234F if total income is up to ₹5 lakh, ₹5,000 if above. Plus interest under Section 234A at 1 per cent per month on unpaid tax, running from the due date.

What you lose, and this is the part that matters: you cannot carry forward business losses, capital losses or speculation losses. Unabsorbed depreciation survives; most other losses do not.

A belated return can be revised. Section 139(5) covers returns filed under Section 139(4) as well as on-time returns, so if you spot a mistake you can correct it, free until 31 December 2026 and with a Section 234I fee up to 31 March 2027. The revision will not bring back the carry-forward of losses, which was lost when you missed the due date.

Revised return, until 31 March 2027

For correcting a return already filed, whether on time or belated. Up to 31 December 2026 the revision is free. From 1 January to 31 March 2027 it can still be filed, with a fee under Section 234I (inserted by the Finance Act, 2026): ₹1,000 if total income is up to ₹5 lakh, ₹5,000 otherwise. You can revise more than once, within the window or before assessment is completed, whichever is earlier.

Updated return, until 31 March 2031

Section 139(8A). The last resort, and it is priced like one.

Available to anyone, whether or not they filed originally. The window is 48 months from the end of the relevant assessment year, so 31 March 2031 for AY 2026-27. Additional tax rises the later you file: 25, 50, 60 or 70 per cent of the additional tax and interest, depending on which year of the four-year window you file in.

You cannot claim a refund in an updated return. It exists to declare income you did not declare, not to recover tax you overpaid. If you are owed money, ITR-U will not get it back. One change worth noting: from 1 March 2026 (Finance Act, 2026), an updated return may reduce a loss or unabsorbed depreciation claimed in a return filed on time, which was previously barred. It still cannot be a return of loss or increase a loss.

The cost ladder

Same taxpayer, same omitted income, four different moments:

The gap between the second and fourth rows is the entire argument for dealing with this before December.

Do you even have to file?

If your total income exceeds the basic exemption limit, yes, even if your final tax is nil after rebates. For FY 2025-26 that is ₹4,00,000 under the new regime and ₹2,50,000 under the old.

Under the new regime there is no tax payable up to ₹12 lakh, but if your income exceeds ₹4 lakh you must still file. Filing is also what gives you proof of income for loans, visas and tenders, which is usually why people who did not have to file wish they had. There are also situations where filing is mandatory regardless of income, including holding foreign assets or foreign income.

What to do now

• Missed 31 July (ITR-1 or ITR-2) or 31 August (non-audit ITR-3 or ITR-4): file a belated return now rather than in December. Interest accrues monthly and refunds process in arrival order.
• Tax audit case: the return is due 21 November 2026. The audit report date (21 October 2026) has passed, so file the report now if it is still pending.
• Already filed, on time or belated, and found an error: revise it. It is free until 31 December 2026; after that a Section 234I fee applies up to 31 March 2027.
• Have not filed for an earlier year: ITR-U may be available, but check the cost before assuming it is worth it, and remember you cannot claim a refund through it.