Swiggy, Zomato, Blinkit, Uber, Ola and Rapido partners are usually taxed on business income, not salary, so the return is normally ITR-4 under the presumptive scheme (or ITR-3 where that does not fit), with the TDS the platform deducted claimed back as a refund. For FY 2025-26 the 31 August 2026 due date has passed, but a belated return can still be filed until 31 December 2026. CA-prepared, from ₹999.
Delivery and ride-hailing partners are generally treated as running their own business, not as employees of the platform. Their payouts are business income, the usual return is ITR-4 with presumptive income under Section 44AD, and the TDS the platform deducted comes back as a refund when income is below the tax-free limit. How a particular platform contract is classified can differ, so we read your payout statement and Form 26AS before choosing the form.
| Question | Position for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27) |
|---|---|
| Head of income | Profits and gains of business, in most cases |
| Return form | ITR-4 (Sugam) if on presumptive and total income up to ₹50 lakh; otherwise ITR-3 |
| Presumptive scheme | Section 44AD: 6% of digital receipts, 8% of cash receipts, turnover up to ₹2 crore (₹3 crore if cash receipts are within 5%) |
| TDS by platforms | 0.1% under Section 194-O or 1% under Section 194C, as shown in Form 26AS |
| Default regime | New regime; nil tax up to ₹12 lakh of total income after the Section 87A rebate |
| Original due date | 31 August 2026 for non-audit business cases (passed) |
| Belated return | Until 31 December 2026, with a Section 234F late fee of up to ₹1,000 where total income is up to ₹5 lakh |
| Audit cases | Extended to 21 November 2026 by CBDT on 28 September 2026 |
Income earned from 1 April 2026 falls under the Income-tax Act, 2025, where Sections 44AD, 44ADA and 44AE become Section 58 and the TDS provisions move into Section 393. The return you file now, for FY 2025-26, is still under the 1961 Act numbering.
| Your situation | Form | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Only platform payouts, happy to declare 6% or more as profit | ITR-4 | Presumptive under Section 44AD; no books, no audit |
| Platform payouts plus salary from another job | ITR-4 if income up to ₹50 lakh and other conditions met; else ITR-3 | Salary and presumptive business income can sit in ITR-4 |
| Payout treated as commission or brokerage (TDS under Section 194H) | ITR-3 | Section 44AD does not apply to commission or brokerage income |
| Declaring profit below 6% / 8%, or a loss | ITR-3 | Needs books of account; a tax audit can also apply once income exceeds the exemption limit |
| Freelance design, tech or consulting work via a platform | ITR-4 under Section 44ADA, or ITR-3 | Specified professions use 44ADA at 50% of receipts |
| Driving your own goods vehicle (tempo, truck) on a logistics app | ITR-4 under Section 44AE, or ITR-3 | Goods carriages have their own per-vehicle scheme |
Once you opt out of Section 44AD after using it, you cannot return to it for the next five years. We check this before recommending a lower profit figure.
Illustration for FY 2025-26: a delivery partner received ₹6,00,000 in payouts, all into a bank account, has given the platform their PAN, and has no other income.
| Step | If TDS was under Section 194-O (0.1%) | If TDS was under Section 194C (1%) |
|---|---|---|
| TDS shown in Form 26AS | ₹600 | ₹6,000 |
| Presumptive profit under Section 44AD at 6% | ₹36,000 | ₹36,000 |
| Tax under the new regime | Nil (below ₹4,00,000) | Nil (below ₹4,00,000) |
| Refund due on filing | ₹600 | ₹6,000 |
You may declare a higher profit than 6% if that reflects your real earnings after fuel and vehicle costs; you may not declare less without keeping books. Under the old regime, deductions such as 80C and 80D are available but rarely change the answer at this income level. Use our income tax calculator to compare regimes for your own numbers.
If a notice arrives because the return and AIS do not match, our income tax notice team handles the response. For freelancers outside the delivery and ride-hailing world, see ITR for freelancers.
Pick the speed and depth that matches your need. Same quality, same CA team — only the timeline changes.
Timeline: 3–5 business days
Timeline: 2–3 business days
Timeline: 2–3 business days
Every price above is a professional fee, excluding GST and government charges. 50% upfront, 50% on delivery.
Payout statements and Form 16A / TDS certificates from Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, Ola etc., bank statements, and your Aadhaar-linked PAN.
CA matches every platform's TDS (whatever section it was deducted under) with Form 26AS and the AIS, and flags any payout reported against the wrong PAN.
ITR-4 with presumptive income under Section 44AD, or ITR-3 where presumptive does not fit (commission income, a loss, or actual books). E-verified via Aadhaar OTP.
Tell us your requirement, a CA will call you in 30 minutes.
Platforms deduct TDS from partner payouts: 0.1% where they deduct as an e-commerce operator (Section 194-O, now Section 393(1) Table Sl. No. 8(v)) or 1% where they deduct as a contract payment (Section 194C, now Section 393(1) Table Sl. No. 6(i)). The section and amount in your Form 26AS is what counts, and we claim every rupee of it.
Delivery and ride-hailing partners are usually in business, not one of the specified professions under Section 44ADA. Section 44AD lets you declare 6% of receipts received digitally (8% of cash receipts) as profit, with no books or audit, if turnover is within ₹2 crore.
If you work across Swiggy, Zomato, Uber and Ola, we aggregate all TDS certificates and payouts into one consolidated ITR.
With presumptive income usually below the tax-free limit, the TDS deducted is normally refunded in full once the ITR is processed. We make sure none of it is left unclaimed.
