ITR Forms

Full form: Income Tax Return Forms

Tax & Deductions

The Income Tax Department has different ITR (Income Tax Return) forms for different taxpayer types. Using the wrong form invalidates the return. ITR-1 (Sahaj) is for simple salaried taxpayers. ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-4 cover progressively more complex income situations.

In detail

Which ITR form to use:nITR-1 (Sahaj): Salaried, one house property, no capital gains, total income up to Rs 50L. Simplest.nITR-2: Salaried + capital gains, or more than one house property, or foreign income/assets. No business income.nITR-3: Individual/HUF with business/professional income. Requires P&L account.nITR-4 (Sugam): Presumptive taxation (Section 44AD/44ADA/44AE).nITR-5: Firms, LLPs, Association of Persons.nITR-6: Companies (not eligible for 80-G exemption).nnDeadline: July 31 for non-auditable returns. September 30 for auditable. Belated return: up to December 31 with Rs 5,000 late fee.

Real-life example

🇮🇳 India example

Priya is salaried (Rs 18L), has FD interest (Rs 40K), and sold equity MF (LTCG Rs 1.8L). She CANNOT use ITR-1 (capital gains disqualifies her from Sahaj). She must file ITR-2. Her colleague Arun is salaried only, Rs 12L income, no capital gains -- he can use the simple ITR-1.

Frequently asked questions

What if I file the wrong ITR form?
IT Department will send a defective notice (Section 139(9)) asking you to re-file with correct form within 15 days. File corrected return within the deadline. If you miss the correction window, the return is treated as invalid. Most tax filing portals (ClearTax, TaxBuddy) auto-select the correct form based on your inputs.