ITR Filing 2026: Don’t rush into filing your income tax return, these 5 important rules have changed this time ITR Filing 2026: Income tax return filing season has started, but employed people wait now! First understand these 5 major changes in the form.

Once again the most important time of the year for taxpayers i.e. the season of filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) has started in the country. The Income Tax Department has made the online forms and Excel utility of ITR-1 (Sahaj), ITR-2 and ITR-4 (Sugam) live on the portal for this year. As soon as the form goes live, many people immediately start preparing to file returns, but tax experts say that especially salaried employees should wait at least till mid-June. The reason for this is that most of the companies provide compensation to their employees. Form 16 It is issued only till the second or third week of June, without which it is impossible to file the correct return.

This time when you will file your tax return for the income of financial year 2025-26, the process may look the same to you, but many stringent and transparent rules have been added on the backend. Let us understand in very simple language those 5 big changes, without knowing which if you fill the form, you may get a notice from the tax department.

1. Scope of ITR-1 increased: Now possible to show income of two households

Till now, in the ITR-1 (Sahaj) form made for small taxpayers, there was an option to give information about income or loss from only one house (single house property). But this time the government has expanded its scope.

• What’s new: Now if you have two houses and you are getting rental income from both, then you will be able to file your return through ITR-1 form only.

• Relief on mutual funds and shares: Additionally, long term capital gains (under section 112A) arising from sale of listed shares or mutual funds can also now be reported in ITR-1. Provided that your total long term capital gain does not exceed Rs 1.25 lakh and you do not have any outstanding capital loss.

2. New rules of capital gains tax came into force

The revolutionary changes that were made in the capital gains tax rules from July 23, 2024, following the announcements made in the budget, will be fully reflected in the return forms this time.

• Indexation finished: Now the benefit of indexation (inflation adjustment) on sale of most assets (like real estate or gold) has been abolished.

• New tax rate: Instead of this, now directly on long term capital gains 12.5% Flat tax will be levied at the rate of Rs. Apart from this, the holding period has also been simplified – this period is now fixed at 1 year for listed securities and 2 years for all other assets (like land or house).

3. ‘What if the fare is not received?’ New column added to the form

Earlier, if the landlord was not able to get the fixed rent due to disputes between landlords and tenants or for any other reason, there was no option to show it separately.

• Transparency will increase: The Income Tax Department has this time added a completely new column in the ITR-1 and ITR-4 forms. In this, taxpayers will have to give accurate information about the rent (Unrealized Rent) which they have not been able to recover legally. This will determine your actual rental income and you will have to pay tax only on the portion that actually comes into your pocket.

4. Businessmen will have to disclose the closing balance of the bank.

This change is for those small traders and professionals who pay tax directly on presumptive income and fill ITR-4 (Sugam) form under the Presumptive Taxation Scheme (Section 44AD, 44ADA and 44AE) without maintaining elaborate account books.

• New Disclosure Mandatory: Now all such taxpayers 31 March 2026 As per the status of your account, the total closing balance of all your active bank accounts will have to be written clearly in the form. With this step, the government wants to ensure that there is no big difference between your turnover and bank balance.

5. Increased clarity regarding the new tax regime

For some time, there was a lot of confusion among the taxpayers, especially those with business income, regarding choosing or opting out of the old tax regime and the new tax regime in the country. In this time’s form, the department has made this process very easy and clear. The form now provides additional disclosures and clear options, enabling taxpayers to choose the tax regime of their choice without any mistakes.

Quick Summary of Main Changes of ITR 2026

Expert’s work advice:

The entire emphasis of the Income Tax Department is now on the fact that taxpayers should enter all their small and big earnings in the form with complete honesty and accuracy. Therefore, before filing your return, AIS (Annual Information Statement) And Form 26AS Make sure to match it with your bank statement. Even a small mismatch done in haste can send you to a scrutiny or revised return notice.