I ndia's income tax return season has ended on a remarkable note since more than 5.9 crores (59 million) ITRs have been filed by the deadline of July 31, which marks the highest number of returns filed by any Indian tax filing deadline so far, indicating the gradual development of the formal tax base.
According to the Income Tax Department report released on August 1, ITRs for Assessment Year 2026-27 were found to cross the 5.9 crores' number barrier by July 31 filing deadline. In fact, the department issued a social media statement thanking the taxpayers, considering it as an indicator of increased faith and adherence of the country's tax population.
As is characteristic in every year, there was a considerable number of returns received during the final hours of the period. On July 31 alone, about 40 lakh returns were received as people who had been delaying filing their returns rushed to complete the process ahead of time.
This pattern is usual for the Indian system where a vast majority of the population delays its return filing until the final days regardless of repeated requests.
The way the number of filed ITRs reached 5.9 crore can be easily tracked via the official data provided by the department. As per the information of the department, about 1.7 crore ITRs had been filed by the date of July 11. In a couple of weeks, this number rose almost twice reaching 3 crore by July 22, while the number exceeded 4 crore already by July 27.
At the beginning of July 31, the pace got considerably accelerated as filings exceeded 5 crore, followed shortly by going past 5.5 crore.
First things first, it is important to note that the deadline is not universal for all taxpayers. The 31st July deadline pertains particularly to those individuals and HUFs whose accounts need not be mandatorily audited, that is, mostly salaried employees, pensioners, etc., and who file ITR forms like the ITR-1(Sahaj) and ITR-2. Those businesses and other taxpayers who need to mandatorily audit their accounts get until the end of August to file their returns.
The fact becomes important in view of the reason that this is only one section among others which constitute this number 5.9 crore.
In assessment year 2026-27, there have been some changes made to ITR forms which are notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). For instance, there have been some new reporting standards which include capital gains, share buybacks, and other trading activities which are made more transparent through these forms.
In addition to this, there has been an appeal made to cross-check information provided in AIS and Form 26AS against the information being provided, since there could be discrepancies in TDS, dividend, securities transactions, interest income, etc.
This year's compliance scenario is quite different from the last one. In case of AY 2025-26, an extended period until September 15 had been granted ahead of time by the government due to restructuring of ITR forms and need for systems readiness.
Later on this deadline was moved by another day to 16 September due to some technical glitches in e-filing website.
Up to that date more than 7.3 crore number of returns were actually filed by the taxpayers.
However, this year the extended deadline is not there, and it will be hard to compare the two situations directly as last year's overall figures represent a greater period while this year's figures are 5.9 crore returns filed within the initially provided time frame.
Those whose returns are not filed by July 31, have the possibility to do so at their own peril.
The consequences for this type of belated actions could consist of interest payments and other penalties in accordance with the provisions of the Income Tax Act, unless special arrangements are made by the tax authorities afterwards.
ITR-1 form is the most popular amongst the individual taxpayers, and it is suitable for resident individuals receiving up to Rs 50 lakh annual income from salary, one property rental and certain other sources.
