The Income Tax Department on May 27, 2025 enabled ITR-2 online filing and excel utility for A.Y. 2026–27 on the e-Filing ITR portal. This means students, pensioners, salaried and others who are not required to undergo an income tax audit can now start filing their ITR.
You can either use the offline excel utility or the online utility or ITR e-filing website to file your income tax return (ITR). The due date for filing ITR for AY 2026-2027 (FY 2025-2026) is on or before July 31, 2026. For Tax Year 2026-2027 the ITR filing due date is July 31, 2027.
However, if your total annual income is less than Rs 2.5 lakh, you don't need to file an ITR. But if your salary income is up to Rs 12.75 lakh, then you need to file an ITR, but thanks to enhanced Section 87A tax rebate under new tax regime, you won't need to pay any income tax.
Who can file ITR-2?
Chartered Accountant Abhishek Soni, co-founder, Tax2Win says that ITR-2 is meant for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) who do not have income from business or profession but have more complex income structures.
This includes income from salary or pension, income from multiple house properties, and income from capital gains or losses arising from the sale of investments or property (both short-term and long-term). Moreover, individuals whose total income exceeds Rs 50 lakh, as well as non-residents and residents not ordinarily resident (RNOR), can't use ITR-1 and thus have to compulsorily file ITR-2 or ITR-3 or any other ITR applicable to them.
Soni says that ITR-2 can also be used to report income from other sources, including winnings from lotteries, racehorses, or other legal gambling activities, as well as agricultural income exceeding Rs 5,000.
Moreover, individuals who serve as directors in a company or have invested in unlisted equity shares must mandatorily file ITR-2, irrespective of their income level.
