Income Tax Return Filing Alert: Important Deadlines, Forms, Penalties To Know Before Filing ITR In July 2026

The month of July is generally very busy for taxpayers in India due to important deadlines to file audited reports of incomes earned in a year. Right from filing income tax returns to claiming tax deducted at source (TDS), here are several rules and deadlines that taxpayers must not miss out in July 2026.

Income Tax July 2026 Deadlines:

July 7, 2026 Income Tax Deadline

The first due date is of July 7th which requires taxpayers to deposit tax deducted/collected for the month of June 2026. However, all sums deducted/collected by an office of the government shall be paid to the credit of the Central Government on the same day on which tax is paid without production of an Income-tax Challan.

Apart from this, July 7th is also the deadline for depositing TDS for the April-June 2026 quarter when the Assessing Officer has permitted a quarterly deposit of TDS under section 392(1) or 393(1).

Also, taxpayers must upload declarations received in the form 127 from the buyer in the month of June and upload the declarations received from recipients in Form No. 121 for the quarter ending June 2026.

July 15, 2026 Income Tax Deadline:

July 15th is the second major deadline for taxpayers. Following filings must be done before this due date:

- Issue of TDS certificates in Form 132 for certain transactions such as rent payments, transfer of immovable property, technical or professional services, and transfers involving Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs).

- Authorized dealers must submit quarterly remittance reports in Form 147.

- Stock exchanges like BSE and NSE are required to file monthly statement in Form 1.

- Furnishing of quarterly statements in Form 148 for remittances to non-residents (other than companies) and foreign companies. This will be filed by IFSC units.

- Specified funds and stockbrokers are required to file Form 92 which records quarterly transactions involving non-resident clients, in accordance with Rule 157.

- Central and State Government offices depositing TDS/TCS without a challan will need to file a consolidated monthly statement in Form 137.

July 30, 2026 Income Tax Deadline:

On this day, individuals, businesses, or other deductors who have deducted TDS on specified transactions listed under Section 393(1) should file Form 141 to report the deduction to the Income Tax Department.

July 31, 2026 Income Tax Deadline:

ITR1 & ITR2 Forms:

This is an important date for all taxpayers. July 31st is the deadline for filing income tax return forms for the Assessment Year 2026-27 and financial year 2025-26.

Now, salaried individuals liable to file income tax return forms ITR1 and ITR2 must complete the process by July 31, 2026. These salaried individuals have income from other sources along with their income earned for the financial year 2025-26.

Salaried individuals with income upto Rs 50 lakh should file ITR1 form, while individuals with capital gains, income from house property, pensions, foreign income, agriculture income, etc. should file ITR2 form.

Apart from this, several other forms for respective income from other sources are required to be filed by July 31, 2026. These include:

Form 3CFA:

Taxpayers should file this form for exercising the option to pay tax at a concessional rate under section 115BBF for income in the nature of royalty arising from patent developed and registered in India.

Form II:

Intimation in Form II is to be done by Sovereign Wealth Fund in respect of investment made in India for quarter ending June 2026.

Form 10BA:

This should be filed to claim a deduction under Section 80GG in respect to rent paid for residential accommodation.

Form 10E:

This form is to be filed by an employee who claims salary in arrears or in advance, etc.

Form 10-EE:

This form is for exercising the option to claim relief under section 89A, for income arising from retirement benefit account maintained in a notified country at the time of withdrawal or redemption.

Form 144:

This form is meant for filing a statement of TDS in respect of payments other than salary made to non-residents for the quarter ending June 30, 2026.

Form 175:

This will be filed by a pension fund in respect of each investment made in India for quarter ending June 2026.

Form 43:

Its is a quarterly statement of collection of tax at source under section 397(3)(b).

Form 138:

To be filed by employers responsible for TDS from salaries paid to employees under section 392 or by a specified bank in respect of income paid to a specified senior citizen under section 393(1).

Form 142:

This is a quarterly statement of TDS related to transfer of virtual digital asset under section 393(1).

Form 140:

This form is a quarterly statement that deductors should file for reporting deduction of tax at source on non-salary payments such as commission, brokerage, professional fees, rent, etc., made to residents for the quarter ending June 30, 2026.

Form 5C:

This form includes attribution of capital gain taxable under section 45(4) to the capital asset remaining with the firm, AOP, or BOI after reconstitution.

Form 3CT:

It is furnished by the transferor of shares or interests in, a company or an entity that derives its value substantially from assets located in India, duly certified by an accountant for apportionment of income attributable to assets located in India.

Form 10BBD:

This form includes details of funds received from eligible persons, directly or through an Alternative Investment Fund, during the Previous Year 2025-26.

Form 10CCD:

Resident individual being an author (including a joint author) claiming a deduction under section 80QQB, which is related to royalty income, to file this form.

Form 10H:

Form 10H is for foreign inward remittance by a resident individual being an author/patentee who is claiming deductions under Section 80QQB/80RRB, in respect of income earned from any source outside India.

Form 10CCE:

Form 10CCE is furnished by a resident individual being a patentee claiming deduction under section 80RRB, in respect of royalty income on patents.

Form 3AF:

Form 3AF contains the particulars of expenditures specified under Section 35D(2)(a).

Form 10-IA:

The form is furnished by the medical authority certifying 'person with disability', 'severe disability', 'autism', 'cerebral palsy' or 'multiple disability' for the purposes of sections 80DD and 80U.

If any of these deadlines are missed, taxpayers will be liable to pay certain penalties.

Consequences of Missing the ITR Filing Deadline:

In case of late ITR filing, under section 234F, taxpayers will be required to pay a Rs 5,000 penalty if their income exceeds Rs 5 lakh. The penalty is Rs 1,000 if your income is below Rs 5 lakh.

Further, if you file your returns after the due date, then you will pay a 1% interest rate per month on the unpaid tax amount under section 234A.

Notably, the income tax provisions will allow taxpayers to carry forward their losses of the current financial year for future assessment years and accordingly reduce the burden of tax liability. But if you missed the ITR deadline, you will not be able to carry forward these losses in future years. These losses can be from sale of capital assets like properties, stocks, mutual funds, etc., and also business losses.

Also, delaying or missing the ITR filing deadline could impact your financial reputation. This could impact your loan applications or visa process, etc.