The Income Tax Department has clarified that taxpayers can file a revised income tax return (ITR) an unlimited number of times to correct mistakes, provided they do so before a strict statutory deadline. The agency stresses that changes for the 2024–25 fiscal year must be finished by January 31, 2025, giving taxpayers only a few days to take action, as the first filing window has been closed since September.
This guidance addresses a common concern among filers who discover errors or omissions after submission. The department’s position ensures flexibility for taxpayers while enforcing a clear time-bound discipline for the assessment process.
What is the Law on Filing Multiple Revised Returns?
Contrary to popular belief, the Income Tax Act, 1961, does not impose a numerical limit on revisions. The governing provision, Section 139(5), allows for the revision of a return if a person “discovers any omission or any wrong statement.”
“If a person, after furnishing the return, finds any mistake, omission or any wrong statement, then the return should be revised within the prescribed time limit,” states the Income Tax Department. The only binding constraint is temporal, not quantitative.
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What is the Final Deadline to File a Revised ITR?
The revision window is strictly defined by the Assessment Year (AY). A return can be revised any time up to three months before the end of the relevant Assessment Year or before the completion of the assessment by the tax officer, whichever is earlier.
For the financial year 2024-25 (Assessment Year 2025-26), this translates to a hard deadline of January 31, 2025. Regardless of the number of adjustments that have already been made, this deadline is absolute. The countdown is based on the Assessment Year, not the date of your original filing. January 31, 2025, is the final cut-off for AY 2025-26.
Are There Any Technical Conditions for Revision?
A critical technicality highlighted by the department concerns the mode of filing. The option to file a revised return online is only available if the original return was also filed electronically.
“If the original return has been filed in paper format or manually, then technically it cannot be revised by online mode or electronically,” the I-T Department clarified. This rule makes a big difference in the rectification process for paper filers and emphasizes the department’s drive for digital compliance.
How Do You File a Revised Return Online?
The process on the official e-filing portal (incometax.gov.in) is streamlined but requires specific details from the originally filed return. Taxpayers must select precise options to indicate a revision.
Step-by-Step Online Revision Process:
- Log in to the e-filing portal using your PAN as User ID.
- Navigate to e-File > Income Tax Returns.
- Select the relevant Assessment Year (2025-26) and ITR form.
- Choose ‘Filing Type’ as Original/Revised Return and ‘Submission Mode’ as Prepare and Submit Online.
- In the online form, under ‘Return Filing Section’, select ‘Revised return under section 139(5)’.
- Crucially, you must enter the ‘Acknowledgement Number’ and ‘Date of Filing’ of your original return to proceed.
- Make the necessary corrections, submit, and e-verify the revised ITR.
The department’s clear guidelines provide a necessary safety net for taxpayers, ensuring that inadvertent errors do not become permanent. However, filers now have the responsibility to examine their filings and take prompt action if inconsistencies are discovered, as the revision window for this year is about to close on January 31.
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