Missed the ITR deadline? What a belated return costs

For the tax year that ended on 31 March 2026, a belated return can still be filed until 31 December 2026. The late fee is ₹5,000, or ₹1,000 if total income is up to ₹5 lakh, plus interest of 1% a month on any tax still unpaid. A late return is filed on the new regime; the old regime is no longer open.

The dates for the 2025-26 return

The return for income earned from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 is assessment year 2026-27, and it is still filed under the Income-tax Act 1961. For salaried people and others whose accounts need no audit, the deadline was 31 July 2026. Taxpayers whose accounts need an audit have until 21 November 2026, after the extension announced on 28 September.

A return filed after the deadline is a belated return, and it can be filed until 31 December 2026. A return already filed can be revised until the same date.

What filing late costs

A late-filing fee of ₹5,000, or ₹1,000 where total income is up to ₹5,00,000. Where income is below the basic exemption limit and no return was required, there is no fee.

Interest at 1% a month, or part of a month, on any tax not paid by the deadline, counted from 1 August until the return is filed. Where TDS and advance tax already cover the year’s tax, there is no tax unpaid and so no interest. A refund due is still paid on a belated return.

The old regime closes at the deadline

For a salaried person with no business income, the choice of the old regime is made in the return filed by the deadline. A belated return is filed on the new regime, the default, whatever you had told your employer during the year.

Where the old regime would have been lower for you because of HRA, Section 80C, health insurance or home-loan interest, that difference is part of the cost of filing late. The regime calculator below shows both on your own figures.

A belated return also cannot carry forward most losses, such as a capital loss, to set against later years. A loss from house property is the exception.

After 31 December: the updated return

Once the belated window closes, an updated return, ITR-U, can be filed for the year until 31 March 2031. It is only for adding income or tax, never for lowering tax or claiming a refund, and it carries extra tax on top of the tax and interest due: 25% of them if filed within a year of the end of the assessment year, 50% within two years, 60% within three and 70% within four.