The Income Tax (I-T) department has announced the release of ITR-5 for taxpayers for the Assessment Year (AY) 2026-27. ITR-5 does not apply to individual taxpayers. It is meant for partnership firms, LLPs, Associations of Persons (AOPs), Bodies of Individuals (BOIs), cooperative societies, local authorities, artificial juridical persons and business or investment funds.
Which Excel utilities have been released so far?
The income tax department has rolled out Excel utilities for ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-4 and now ITR-5. The IT department also recently announced that over 1 crore ITRs have already been filed for AY 2026-27.
What is deadline for taxpayers who will use ITR-5?
The deadline for taxpayers who will use ITR-5 is 31 August, whereas salaried taxpayers must file their return for FY 2025-26 before 31 July (ITR-1 and ITR-2).
What is purpose of Excel utility of ITR forms?
The income tax Excel utility allows taxpayers to prepare and verify their tax returns offline. It enables taxpayers to organize large amounts of data and compute taxes without requiring an uninterrupted internet connection.
Is this a good time to file income tax return (ITR)?
Experts say this is the best time for individual taxpayers to file returns because the 31 July deadline is still three weeks away, and the influx of returns could slow the e-filing portal.
“It is the best time to file ITR as 26AS, AIS and TIS are all updated. This is the time which is neither early, nor too late,” says Pratibha Goyal, partner, PD Gupta & Company, a Delhi-based CA firm.
What is advantage of filing tax return now?
Several experts say that filing a tax return on time ensures you receive your tax refund early. “I have seen a number of cases where taxpayers got their refunds (between ₹20-30K) within a couple of hours. In one case, we filed the tax return at noon, and the taxpayer got his refund at 3 pm on the same day,” says Chirag Chauhan, founder of CA Chauhan & Company, a Mumbai-based Chartered Accountancy firm.
He added that, barring a very few organizations, almost all have updated their AIS and TIS in the last quarter, thereby incentivizing taxpayers to file their tax returns now.
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