Tax year 2026-27

Which ITR form, for the tax year that starts on 1 April 2026

Rule 164 says which form the return uses for the tax year commencing on 1 April 2026. The returns it names are those under section 263(1), section 268(1)(a), and section 280. SAHAJ is ITR-1. SUGAM is ITR-4. A salaried person can still be on ITR-1 with not more than two house properties, and with long-term capital gains under section 198 that do not exceed Rs. 1,25,000. The rule prints that cap as Rs. 125000.

Official sources

Rule 164. Forms for the tax year commencing on 1 April 2026. The host's upload date is 08/01/2026. Sub-rule (2) is SAHAJ (ITR-1). Sub-rule (3) is who cannot use it. Sub-rule (4) is ITR-2. Sub-rules (5) and (6) are SUGAM (ITR-4). Sub-rule (7) is ITR-3.
Section 198, hosted text labelled year 2026. Long-term capital gains from an equity share in a company, a unit of an equity oriented fund, or a unit of a business trust, where the securities transaction tax conditions in subsection (1) are met. Subsection (2)(a) taxes such gains exceeding Rs. 125000 at 12.5%. This page does not restate the rest of subsection (2).
What are the forms of return. Department FAQ. The year it prints is assessment year 2026-27, that is financial year 2025-26. On that answer ITR-1 is one house property, and long-term capital gains under section 112A up to Rs. 1.25 lakh. This page does not treat that year as Rule 164.
Who cannot use ITR-1 (SAHAJ). Department FAQ. It still cites sections 80QQB, 80RRB, 194N, 191(2), 192(1C), 10AA, 112A, 115BBDA, and 115BBE. Those section numbers are not the bars in Rule 164(3).
The ITR filing guide still says ITR-1 is one house property and no capital gains. This page does not copy that table, and that guide does not copy Rule 164.

The form follows the tax year that starts on 1 April 2026

Sub-rule (1) limits the rule to the return of income for the tax year commencing on 1 April 2026, when that return is required under section 263(1), section 268(1)(a), or section 280. The host does not print a second tax year on that sentence.

The forms FAQ is labelled assessment year 2026-27, financial year 2025-26. Its ITR-1 line is a resident other than not ordinarily resident, total income up to Rs. 50 lakh, salary, one house property, other sources, long-term capital gains under section 112A up to Rs. 1.25 lakh, and agricultural income up to Rs. 5000. Rule 164 uses section 198, not section 112A, and it puts the house-property count at not more than two. Those are two documents. This page does not fold them into one row.

An updated return under section 263(6) is a different filing. The extra tax on that return, and the four financial years the department note lists during tax year 2026-27, stay on the updated-return page.

ITR-1 is an individual, resident, and not "not ordinarily resident"

Sub-rule (2) is subject to sub-rule (3). The person is an individual who is a resident other than not ordinarily resident. The day counts for that status are on the returning-to-India page. This page does not repeat them. The form is SAHAJ (ITR-1), verified in the manner the form indicates.

The total income includes income under one or more of these heads. The rule joins the rows with "or".

Row	Head, as Rule 164(2) prints it
(a)	"Salaries", or income in the nature of family pension as defined in section 93(1)(d).
(b)	"Income from house property", where the person does not own more than two house properties, and does not have any brought-forward loss or loss to be carried forward under that head.
(c)	"Income from other sources", except winnings from lottery or income from race horses, and the person does not have any loss under that head.
(d)	"Capital gains", where the person has only long-term capital gains under section 198 not exceeding Rs. 125000, and does not have any brought-forward loss or loss to be carried forward under that head.

Row (b) is not "one house". "Not more than two" is two, or fewer. A brought-forward house-property loss, or a loss under that head that has to be carried forward, takes the person off this row. Row (c) is stricter on the loss: any loss under "Income from other sources", not only a brought-forward one. Lottery winnings and race-horse income are outside the row even when there is no loss.

Section 198(1), on the year 2026 host, is long-term capital gains from the transfer of an equity share in a company, a unit of an equity oriented fund, or a unit of a business trust, where securities transaction tax has been paid as that subsection requires. On an equity share, the tax has to have been paid on acquisition and on transfer. On a unit, it has to have been paid on transfer. Subsection (2)(a) then calculates income-tax on such gains exceeding Rs. 125000 at 12.5%. Rule 164's form cap is the same Rs. 125000, written as a ceiling on the gains, not as a tax rate. The investor guide still says section 112A. This page does not rename section 198.

Family pension in row (a) uses the definition in section 93(1)(d). Arrears of that pension, and the relief in section 157, stay on the section 157 page.

Any one of these takes the same person off ITR-1

Sub-rule (3) is a list of people who shall not be eligible to file ITR-1. One clause is enough. The rule joins them with "or".

Clause	The person
(a)	Has assets, including a financial interest in any entity, located outside India.
(b)	Has signing authority in any account located outside India.
(c)	Has income from any source outside India.
(d)	Has income to be apportioned under section 10.
(e)	Has claimed a deduction under section 93, other than the deduction in clause (d) of sub-section (1) of that section.
(f)	Is a director in any company.
(g)	Has held any unlisted equity share at any time during the tax year.
(h)	Is assessable for the whole or any part of income on which tax was deducted at source in the hands of a person other than the assessee.
(i)	Has claimed any relief of tax under section 159, or a deduction of tax under section 160.
(j)	Has agricultural income exceeding Rs. 5000.
(k)	Has total income exceeding fifty lakh rupees.
(l)	Is a person in whose case tax has been deducted under section 393(3), table serial number 5.
(m)	Is a person in whose case payment or deduction of tax has been deferred under section 391(2) or section 392(3).
(n)	Has any income of the nature on which the tax is determinable under Part A of Chapter XIII of the Act.

Clauses (a), (b), and (c) are three bars, not one. An asset outside India, signing authority on an account outside India, and income from a source outside India each close ITR-1 on their own. What goes on Schedule FA, and why ITR-1 and ITR-4 have no such schedule, stays on the foreign-asset return page. Clause (j) is agricultural income exceeding Rs. 5000. The rule does not, in sub-rule (2), list agricultural income as a head ITR-1 is for. Clause (k) is total income exceeding fifty lakh rupees. That is Rs. 50,00,000. The fifty-lakh line is an ineligibility clause. It is not written into sub-rule (2) as a condition of the heads.

Clause (n) names Part A of Chapter XIII. This page does not rename that part. The filing guide's line that ITR-1 has no virtual digital asset income is not this clause. Clause (i) names section 159 and section 160. The treaty and the residence certificate stay on the treaty page.

The who-cannot FAQ still bars a non-resident, a director, total income above Rs. 50 lakh, more than two house properties, an unlisted equity share, and a foreign asset or foreign income. It also bars royalty deductions under sections 80QQB and 80RRB, tax deducted under section 194N, a deferred tax payment under section 191(2) or section 192(1C), section 10AA, brought-forward losses, a section 57 deduction other than family pension, relief under section 90 or 91, business or professional income, capital gains other than the section 112A exception, and long-term capital gains under section 112A exceeding Rs. 1.25 lakh. Those are that FAQ's words. They are not substituted for Rule 164(3).

ITR-2 is the non-business form when ITR-1 does not apply

Sub-rule (4) is Form ITR-2, verified in the manner the form indicates. The person is an individual who is not an individual to whom sub-rule (2) applies, or a Hindu undivided family. In either case the total income does not include income under the head "business or profession". That is the head name sub-rule (4) prints. It does not print "Profits and gains".

An individual who fails sub-rule (3), and who has no income under that head, is in this sub-rule. A Hindu undivided family is not in sub-rule (2) at all. Sub-rule (2) names an individual. A Hindu undivided family with no business or professional income is ITR-2 under sub-rule (4), including where a sub-rule (3) fact is present. Sub-rule (4) does not repeat the fourteen bars.

ITR-4 is the section 58 form, and it has its own bars

Sub-rule (5) is subject to sub-rule (6). The form is SUGAM (ITR-4). The person is an individual or a Hindu undivided family who is a resident other than not ordinarily resident, or a firm, other than a limited liability partnership, which is a resident. Two conditions sit together. The person derives income under the head "Profits or gains of business or profession", and that income is computed under the special provisions in section 58. And, if there are capital gains, the person has only long-term capital gains under section 198 not exceeding Rs. 125000. The rule says "if any" on that capital-gains line. A person with no capital gains is not failed by that line.

The department's YouTube and AdSense page is who can use section 58(2) table serial 3. Rule 164 does not name YouTube, AdSense, or a platform cut. The ITR-4 PDF labelled assessment year 2026-27 is still not this rule. That page already says so.

Sub-rule (6) is who shall not be eligible to file ITR-4. The clauses are not a copy of sub-rule (3).

Clause	Where it differs from the ITR-1 list, or the words the rule uses
(a) (b) (c)	Same three foreign bars: assets outside India, signing authority outside India, income from a source outside India.
(d)	Income to be apportioned under section 10. Same as ITR-1.
(e)	A deduction under section 93, other than a deduction claimed under section 93(1)(d). ITR-1's matching clause says "clause (d) of sub-section (1) of the said section".
(f) (g) (h)	A director. An unlisted equity share at any time during the tax year. Total income exceeding fifty lakh rupees.
(i)	Owns more than two house properties, the income of which is chargeable under "Income from house property". ITR-1 writes the count inside the head, as "does not own more than two".
(j)	Any brought-forward loss, or loss to be carried forward, under any head of income.
(k)	Assessable for income on which tax was deducted at source in someone else's hands. Same idea as ITR-1 clause (h).
(l)	The host ends on these words: relief of tax under section 159, or deduction of tax under clause (d) of sub-section (1) of the said. It does not print the section number after "the said". ITR-1 clause (i) names section 160. This page does not copy section 160 onto this clause.
(m)	Agricultural income exceeding Rs. 5000.
(n)	Income of the nature specified in section 17(1)(d), on which tax is payable or deductible under section 391(2) or section 392(3). ITR-1's deferral clause is (m), and it does not cite section 17(1)(d).
(o)	Income on which the tax is determinable under Part A of Chapter XIII. Same name as ITR-1 clause (n).

Everyone else, and what is not attached to the return

Sub-rule (7) is Form ITR-3. The person is an individual or a Hindu undivided family other than a person referred to in sub-rule (2), sub-rule (4), or sub-rule (5), and the person has income under the head "Profits or gains of business or profession". A person who has that income, and who is kept off SUGAM by sub-rule (6), is not in sub-rule (5). If they are also not in sub-rule (2) or (4), this is the sub-rule that names them.

Sub-rule (8) is Form ITR-5. The person is not an individual, not a Hindu undivided family, not a company, and not a person to whom sub-rule (10) applies. Sub-rule (9) is Form ITR-6, a company that is not a company to whom sub-rule (10) applies. Sub-rule (10) is Form ITR-7. That person, including a company, may or may not be registered under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956, or section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. The return is required under section 349, or Schedule VIII table serial 1D(f), or section 263(1)(a)(iv) or (v).

Sub-rule (11) says the return is not accompanied by a statement showing the computation of the tax payable on the basis of the return, or by proof of tax deducted or collected at source, or of advance tax, or of tax on self-assessment, or by any document, copy of any account, form, or audit report that a provision of the Act requires to be attached. The sub-rule does not say those papers need not be kept. It says they do not go with the return.

Sub-rule (12) is a table of how the return is furnished, by class of person. This page does not copy that table.

Use this page for the form. The filing guide's table is the older line.

One house and "no capital gains" are still printed on the filing guide. Rule 164, for the tax year that starts on 1 April 2026, is the two-house line and the section 198 cap of Rs. 1,25,000, plus the bars above.

ITR filing guide Foreign asset, under the limit