ITR-U updated return: due date, the extra tax by year, and how to file it

An updated return (ITR-U) can be filed within 48 months from the end of the assessment year it belongs to, under section 139(8A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. For AY 2026-27 (income of FY 2025-26), that means up to 31 March 2031. What section 140B adds is an additional tax of 25%, 50%, 60% or 70% of the tax and interest due, depending on how late the return is filed. That is on top of the tax, interest and, where no return was filed, a late fee. All rupee figures are our own estimates.

Source: Income-tax Act, 1961, section 139(8A) (as amended): updated return 'at any time within forty-eight months from the end of the relevant assessment year'

What an updated return is, and who can file it

Section 139(8A) lets any person file an updated return for a year, whether or not they filed an original, belated or revised return for that year. You can also file it for the income of another person you are assessable for, such as in a representative capacity or where income is clubbed with yours. It is optional. Typical reasons, as listed in Form ITR-U:

• No return was filed for the year.
• You filed, but left out income: FD or savings interest, a capital gain, rent, freelance receipts.
• You reported income under the wrong head or at the wrong rate.
• You want to reduce a loss or unabsorbed depreciation that you carried forward.

Source: Income Tax Department, 'Updated Return of Income' (provisions of the 1961 Act as amended by the Finance Act, 2026): any person, whether or not an earlier return was filed; optional; representative capacity or clubbing

The time limit: from 24 to 48 months

The window used to be 24 months. Section 40 of the Finance Act, 2025 substituted "forty-eight months" for "twenty-four months" in section 139(8A). The clock starts at the end of the assessment year (31 March, one year after the income year).

The same page also carries a note that the 48 months apply "effective from Assessment Year 2026-27", which does not match its own list. For AY 2022-23 and 2023-24, the portal's acceptance of the year is the practical test.

Source: Income Tax Department, Finance Act, 2025, section 40: in section 139(8A), 'forty-eight months' substituted for 'twenty-four months'; new bar where a section 148A show-cause notice is issued after 36 months

Additional tax on an updated return, year by year

Section 140B requires the tax, the interest, any late fee and an additional income-tax to be paid before filing, with proof of payment attached. Without that proof the return is treated as defective. The additional tax is a percentage of the tax plus interest payable:

Source: Income-tax Act, 1961, section 140B (2026 text): payment before filing with proof; additional tax 25/50/60/70% of tax and interest; surcharge and cess included; sub-section (3A) extra 10% for section 148 cases

Source: Finance Act, 2025, section 41: 60% (24 to 36 months) and 70% (36 to 48 months) inserted in section 140B(3)

Source: Finance Act, 2026, section 6: section 140B(3A), further 10% where an updated return is filed in pursuance of a section 148 notice, deemed inserted from 1 March 2026

Interest and fee that come with it

• Section 234A (only if no return was filed for that year): interest on the tax payable, from the day after the original due date to the day you file the ITR-U.
• Section 234B: where advance tax was due and less than 90% of the assessed tax was paid, 1% a month or part of a month from 1 April of the assessment year to the date you pay the tax.
• Section 234C: interest for short advance tax instalments, on the updated income.
• Section 234F late fee: only if no return was filed for that year. With an earlier original, belated or revised return, 234A and 234F do not apply.
• The department's page says 234A and 234B interest is not charged on the additional tax itself.

Source: Income Tax Department, 'Updated Return of Income': 234A, 234B, 234C and 234F on an updated return, with and without an earlier return; 234A and 234B not charged on the additional tax

Source: Income-tax Act, 1961, section 234B(1): 1% simple interest for every month or part of a month from 1 April after the financial year, where advance tax paid is less than 90% of assessed tax

Worked example: missed FD interest in AY 2026-27

Say a FY 2025-26 return was filed on time, with all tax covered by TDS. Later, left-out FD interest turns up that adds ₹20,000 of tax (with cess), with no TDS or advance tax against it. Assume advance tax was due and none was paid, so section 234B applies to the full ₹20,000, and the tax is paid in the month the ITR-U is filed.

The first row in full: April 2026 to June 2027 is 15 months, so 234B is 20,000 × 1% × 15 = ₹3,000. Additional tax is 25% of ₹23,000 = ₹5,750, so 20,000 + 3,000 + 5,750 = ₹28,750 is paid before filing. Filed in answer to a section 148 notice, the June 2027 total would be ₹31,050 (35%).

When you cannot file an updated return

• It would be a return of loss, would reduce your tax compared with an earlier return, or would create or increase a refund.
• You have already filed an updated return for that year. Only one is allowed, and it cannot be revised.
• An assessment, reassessment, recomputation or revision for that year is pending or completed.
• A search (section 132), requisition (132A) or survey (133A, other than a TDS/TCS survey) took place in your case: barred for the AY relevant to the previous year in which it happened, and all earlier AYs.
• A notice says assets, books or documents seized or requisitioned from another person belong or relate to you. The same years are barred.
• The Assessing Officer has information about you under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, the Black Money Act, the Benami Act or the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act, or under a tax treaty, and has told you before you file.
• Prosecution proceedings have started against you for that year.
• A show-cause notice under section 148A was issued after 36 months from the end of the AY, unless the officer has since ruled under 148A(3) that it is not a fit case for a section 148 notice.
• You belong to a person or class of persons that CBDT has notified as not eligible.

A section 148 notice is treated differently. An updated return may be filed in pursuance of that notice, within the period it allows, at the higher rates above. The notice cannot then be answered in any other way, and the extra income shown does not form the basis of a section 270A penalty, per the department's page.

Under the refund bar, a TDS refund missed after the belated deadline cannot be claimed through an ITR-U; our belated return guide covers that case.

Source: Income-tax Act, 1961, section 139(8A), provisos: loss, lower tax or refund barred; search, survey and requisition; one updated return per year; pending assessment; seized assets or books of another person; PMLA/Black Money/Benami/Smugglers Act information; treaty information; prosecution; notified persons

Updated return vs the belated return deadline

For AY 2026-27, the department's FAQ gives 31 December 2026 as the last date for a belated return, and 31 March 2027 for a revised return (a date it marks "as proposed in the Finance Bill, 2026"), in each case only if the assessment has not been completed first. A belated return carries the 234F late fee but not the section 140B additional tax, which applies only to updated returns. The 25% slab in section 140B applies to an updated return filed after the time for a belated or revised return has run out.

We found no notice of the exact date ITR-U opens for AY 2026-27. For the new Act's first year, the department's calculator manual says "Updated return for TY 2026-27 filing is applicable after 01/01/2028". The belated window for TY 2026-27 closes on 31 December 2027 (9 months from the tax year's end, FAQ Q12).

Source: e-Filing portal, Income Tax Returns FAQs, Q6 to Q9: revised return for AY 2026-27 by 31 March 2027 ('as proposed in the Finance Bill, 2026'); belated return by 31 December 2026 (234F fee ₹1,000 or ₹5,000); ITR-U for AY 2026-27 under section 139(8A) of the old Act, even after 1 April 2026

Source: e-Filing portal, Income Tax Calculator user manual: for an updated return select the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the AY; 'Updated return for TY 2026-27 filing is applicable after 01/01/2028'

Which law: sections 263(6) and 267 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (earlier 139(8A) and 140B)

In the Income-tax Act, 2025 (in force from 1 April 2026), the updated return is section 263(6) (earlier 139(8A)), and the tax on it is section 267 (earlier 140B). Section 267(5) (earlier 140B(3)) keeps the same 25%, 50%, 60% and 70% slabs. Section 139(8A) counts 48 months "from the end of the relevant assessment year"; section 263(6) (earlier 139(8A)) counts 48 months "from the end of the financial year succeeding the relevant tax year". Both land on the same 31 March, and the FAQ calls the provisions "substantively the same". For Tax Year 2026-27, that is 48 months from 31 March 2028, so up to 31 March 2032. The text of section 267 (earlier 140B) on the department's site does not show an equivalent of the extra 10 points that section 140B(3A) adds in section 148 cases.

Per the FAQ (Q8), an ITR-U for AY 2026-27 and earlier years is still filed under section 139(8A) of the 1961 Act.

Source: e-Filing portal, Income Tax Returns FAQs, Q1, Q12 and Q13: section 263(6) (earlier 139(8A)) of the 2025 Act, 48 months from the end of the financial year succeeding the tax year; additional tax under section 267 (earlier 140B); 'substantively the same as under Section 139(8A)'

Source: Income-tax Act, 2025, section 267 (earlier 140B) 'Tax on updated return': sub-section (5) (earlier 140B(3)), 25/50/60/70% of tax and interest; sub-section (6), surcharge and cess included

The form: ITR-U under rule 12AC

CBDT notified Form ITR-U through the Income-tax (Ninth Amendment) Rules, 2026 (Notification No. 52/2026, G.S.R. 233(E), 30 March 2026). Its heading says it is for persons "to update income/reduce loss within forty-eight months". The form asks for one of the four periods (up to 12, 12 to 24, 24 to 36 or 36 to 48 months), a reason, the ITR form (ITR-1 to 7) in which the updated income is filled, and the tax paid under section 140B by challan: BSR code, date of deposit, challan serial number and amount. The department's page calls these Part A Gen_139(8A) and Part B-ATI of the relevant ITR form.

Source: CBDT Notification No. 52/2026, G.S.R. 233(E), 30 March 2026: Form ITR-U inserted in Appendix II of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 (rule 12AC), reasons for updating, four filing periods, additional tax 25/50/60/70% or 35/60/70/80% for section 148 cases

How to file an updated return on the e-filing portal

• Working out the amount: the department's Income Tax Calculator (Advanced Calculator) has a 'Type of ITR' option of 'Updated return', used with the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the AY.
• Payment: the full amount is paid before filing, and the challan details go into the return. An ITR-U without proof of payment is treated as defective.
• Starting the return: the general filing path in the portal's ITR-1 manual is e-File > Income Tax Returns > File Income Tax Return, then the assessment year.
• Form: the applicable ITR form (ITR-1 to ITR-7), with Schedule 'Part A Gen_139(8A)' and Schedule 'Part B ATI' for an updated return.
• Part A: the earlier return (section, form, acknowledgement number, date), eligibility, the reason, and the period of filing.
• Part B-ATI: the extra income head by head, the tax on it, the section 140B challan details, any advance tax, self-assessment tax or regular assessment tax not claimed in the earlier return, and section 89 relief not claimed earlier.
• Verification: companies, political parties and taxpayers whose accounts are audited under section 44AB (except ITR-7 filers) verify with a DSC. Others can use an electronic verification code (EVC) or a DSC.
• Time to verify: under the portal's filing manual, a return submitted with e-Verify Later is verified within 30 days.

We found no ITR-U-specific e-filing manual; the login path comes from the ITR-1 manual, so screens may differ.

Source: Income Tax Department, 'Updated Return of Income': relevant ITR form with Part A Gen_139(8A) and Part B ATI, details to report, DSC/EVC rules

Source: e-Filing portal user manual, 'File ITR-1 (Sahaj) Online': e-File > Income Tax Returns > File Income Tax Return, Pay Now, verification within 30 days

Per the department's page, an assessment of the ITR-U under section 143 or 144 can be made within 9 months from the end of the financial year in which it was filed. If an updated return reduces a carried-forward loss, unabsorbed depreciation, or MAT or AMT credit for a later year, an updated return is also required for each such later year.