Made a Mistake in Your ITR? How to Revise It the Right Way

If you spot a mistake after filing, file a revised return on the e-filing portal. For FY 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27) you can revise free of charge until 31 December 2026. A change made by the Finance Act, 2026 then lets you revise until 31 March 2027, with a fee of Rs 1,000 or Rs 5,000.

Who can revise a return?

You can, if you have already filed. A revised return is a fresh, complete return that replaces the one you filed earlier. Section 139(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 allows it when you discover an omission or a wrong statement. It covers returns filed on time and belated returns (returns filed after the due date). You do not need a notice from the department, and you do not need to give a long explanation. Your FY 2025-26 return stays under the 1961 Act even though the Income-tax Act, 2025 began on 1 April 2026.

How long do you have, and what is the new fee?

Until last year the answer was simple: 31 December of the assessment year. The Finance Act, 2026 changed section 139(5) so that a return can be revised until the end of the assessment year, or until your assessment is completed if that happens first. For AY 2026-27 that means 31 March 2027. The same Act added a new section 234-I, which charges a fee when you revise in the extra three months.

Where the sources do not fully agree

We checked this carefully, and you should know what is settled and what is not.

• Settled: the Income Tax Department's site carries section 234-I and the amended section 139(5), both effective from 1 March 2026, and the e-filing portal's own FAQ gives 31 March 2027 as the revision date for AY 2026-27. Major outlets report the Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 amounts consistently.
• Section number: some articles quote section 428(b). That is the matching provision in the Income-tax Act, 2025, which applies to tax year 2026-27 onwards. For your FY 2025-26 return the section is 234-I.
• Stale wording: the portal FAQ still labels the 31 March 2027 date as "proposed in the Finance Bill, 2026", although the Finance Act has since been passed.
• Drafting doubt: at least one commentary points out that section 234-I, read word for word, counts the nine and twelve months from the end of the assessment year, not the financial year. Read that way the fee window would not match the dates above. Every source we saw, including that one, still applies the fee from 1 January to 31 March 2027.

What should you do with this? Revise by 31 December 2026 if you can. It is free, and none of the doubt touches you.

How many times can you revise?

The law sets no number. You can revise more than once within the time limit, and the latest verified return is the one that counts. That does not mean you should treat it casually. Several revisions with shifting income figures or a growing refund claim are more likely to draw questions.

Revised return, rectification request or updated return?

These three get mixed up all the time. The right one depends on who made the mistake and how much time has passed.

How to file a revised return, step by step

1. Keep your original return's acknowledgement number and filing date ready. You will find both on the ITR-V.
2. Log in at incometax.gov.in and download your latest AIS and Form 26AS. Tick every entry against your return.
3. Go to e-File, then Income Tax Returns, then File Income Tax Return. Choose assessment year 2026-27 and the online mode.
4. Choose the form. You may pick a different ITR form from the original if the first one was wrong for your income.
5. In the filing section, select "139(5), revised return" and enter the original acknowledgement number and date.
6. Fill in the whole return again with the corrections. The pre-filled data will not carry your earlier manual entries reliably, so check each schedule.
7. Pay any extra tax and interest through e-Pay Tax. From 1 January 2027, the fee is added as well.
8. Submit and e-verify within 30 days. An unverified revised return does not count.

Why people usually revise

• Bank or fixed deposit interest that shows in the AIS but was left out.
• Marketplace sales or TDS credits that do not match Form 26AS.
• Capital gains from shares or mutual funds that were missed or reported in the wrong schedule.
• A deduction or TDS credit that was not claimed.
• The wrong ITR form, or a wrong bank account for the refund.

A worked example

Rohan sells phone accessories on Flipkart. He filed ITR-4 on 20 August 2026, before his 31 August due date, showing total income of Rs 11,00,000. In December he sees fixed deposit interest of Rs 48,000 in his AIS that he never reported. Say the extra tax on it works out to Rs 9,984 including cess.

• He revises on 15 December 2026: he pays Rs 9,984 plus interest of roughly Rs 900, at 1% a month from April for the shortfall in advance tax. No fee.
• He revises on 10 February 2027: the same tax, about Rs 1,100 of interest, and a Rs 5,000 fee under section 234-I because his income is above Rs 5 lakh.
• He waits past 31 March 2027: only an updated return is left, with additional tax of 25% on the tax and interest.

The same mistake costs about Rs 10,900 in December and about Rs 16,100 in February.

The mistake people usually make

They revise only the line that was wrong and leave the rest blank or half filled. A revised return replaces the original completely. If you re-enter the missed interest but forget to re-enter your TDS credit or a deduction, the revised return will show a higher tax than you owe. The second mistake is using a rectification request when the error was yours. Rectification fixes the department's processing errors. It cannot add income you forgot.

Should you revise it yourself?

A single missed interest entry or a wrong bank account is easy to fix on your own. Take help when the correction changes your ITR form, involves capital gains or business income, or follows a notice or a mismatch message from the department.

Frequently asked questions

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