Return of Income: formula sheet

Key formulas

Unconditional filers

Company, firm, section 45(3)(a) university/college, business trust, section 224 investment fund, resident (not NOR) with foreign assets → file regardless of income or loss

Section 263(1)(a)(i), (ii), (v), (vi), (vii), (ix) read with (1)(b).

Person other than company or firm

Total income before Chapter XVII-B, Schedule VIII (Sl. No. 1) and deductions under sections 82 to 88 > maximum amount not chargeable to tax → file

Test income before the deductions. Income after deductions can be below the limit and you still file.

Specified entity

Total income without giving effect to section 11 > maximum amount not chargeable to tax → file

Specified entities are defined in section 263(9)(c).

Loss carry forward

Loss under business/profession or capital gains + intention to carry forward → file

Applies to any person. House property or other-source losses are not covered by this clause.

Foreign assets clause

Resident other than NOR + at any time in the tax year holds a foreign asset (as beneficial owner or otherwise), has signing authority in a foreign account, or is a beneficiary of a foreign asset → file

Beneficiary limb does not apply where the income from the asset is includible in the income of the person in item (A).

Due dates (Table in section 263(1)(c))

30 Nov: section 172 applies. 31 Oct: company; audited assessee; partner of audited firm (or spouse). 31 Aug: business income, not audited. 31 July: any other assessee.

Dates fall in the financial year after the tax year. Detail is in the due dates topic.

Row 1: section 172 cases

Assessee (including partners of the firm, or the spouse of such partner if section 10 applies) where section 172 applies → 30th November

Check this row first. It applies only where section 172 applies. Other rows apply only where it does not.

Row 2: companies and audit cases

Company; assessee (other than a company) whose accounts are required to be audited under the Act or any other law; partner of a firm whose accounts are required to be audited, or spouse of such partner (if section 10 applies) → 31st October

Applies where section 172 does not apply. Audit under any other law also counts, not only audit under the Act.

Row 3: non-audit business cases

Assessee with business or profession income whose accounts are not required to be audited; partner of a firm whose accounts are not required to be audited, or spouse of such partner (if section 10 applies) → 31st August

Applies where section 172 does not apply. The assessee must have business or profession income for the first limb.

Row 4: any other assessee

Any other assessee → 31st July

This is the residual row. It covers, for example, a salaried person with no business income.

Which year the date falls in

Due date = stated day in the financial year succeeding the tax year

For tax year 2026-27, the due date falls in financial year 2027-28.

Returns by persons who must file regardless of income

Clauses (a)(i), (ii), (v), (vi), (vii) and (ix) → return due on the due date regardless of income or loss

These are company, firm, university/college/institution, business trust, investment fund, and a resident (other than not ordinarily resident) with foreign assets or signing authority (section 263(1)(b)).

Due date for filing

Company or audit case: 31st October | Business case, no audit: 31st August | Other assessee: 31st July | Section 172 case: 30th November (all in the year after the tax year)

Section 263(1)(c). Substituted by Act No. 4 of 2026 w.e.f. 1-4-2026. Table has four rows with conditions.

Belated return

Within 9 months from end of tax year, or before completion of assessment, whichever is earlier

Section 263(4). Applies to a person who has not furnished a return within the time allowed under 263(1).

Revised return

Within 12 months from end of tax year, or before completion of assessment, whichever is earlier

Section 263(5). Available only if a return was furnished under 263(1) or (4) and has an omission or wrong statement. Subject to section 428(b).

Updated return (for contrast)

Within 48 months from end of the financial year succeeding the tax year

Section 263(6)(a). A separate facility with its own bars. Not the same as revised or belated.

Loss carry forward

A person with a business or capital loss who intends to carry it forward must furnish a return - section 263(1)(a)(viii)

Section 263(1)(a)(viii) obliges the person to furnish a return. Clause (viii) is not in the section 263(1)(b) list of persons who file regardless of income or loss. The effect of a belated return on carry forward is not stated in section 263; see the carry-forward provisions in Chapter VII.

Defective return: rectification period

Rectify within 15 days from the date of intimation (or a further period allowed on application)

Section 263(7)(a). The AO intimates the defect first. The clock runs from the intimation.

Consequence of non-rectification

Not rectified in time → invalid return → treated as if no return was furnished

Section 263(7)(b). Rectification after the period but before assessment: AO may condone the delay and treat the return as valid (7)(c).

Time limit for updated return

Within 48 months from the end of the financial year succeeding the relevant tax year

Section 263(6)(a). Available whether or not a return was filed earlier. Additional tax is payable.

Time limit for revised return

Within 12 months from the end of the relevant tax year, or before completion of assessment, whichever is earlier

Section 263(5), as substituted from 1-4-2026. Earlier it was nine months. Do not mix this up with the updated return.

Cases where updated return is barred (main ones)

Return of loss (except (6)(b)(i)); decreases tax; creates or increases refund; updated return already filed; assessment proceedings pending or completed (except (6)(b)(ii)); and the other cases in (6)(c)

Also barred after search, survey or notice under section 294 as in (6)(d). Learn the list in groups: result of the return, status of the case, information with the department.

Updated return after loss return

Allowed if a loss return was filed by the due date and the updated return is a return of income or reduces the loss

Section 263(6)(b)(i). Also allowed on a notice under section 280, within the period in the notice (6)(b)(ii).

Individual

Return signed by the individual himself

Fallbacks apply if he is absent from India, mentally incapacitated, or another reason is permitted. Then an authorised person with a valid power of attorney signs.

HUF

Karta; if absent or incapacitated, any other adult member

Remember the fallback is an adult member of the family.

Company

Managing director; else a director

A director signs where there is no managing director or he cannot sign for an unavoidable reason. Special persons apply for non-resident companies, companies in liquidation and companies under Government management.

Firm and LLP

Managing partner (designated partner for LLP); else any adult partner

For a firm, a minor partner cannot sign. Check the exact fallback in the Act text.

AOP and other persons

Principal officer or a member; for any other person, that person or a member or principal officer

A political party uses its chief executive officer.

Tax return preparer scheme (section 264)

Scheme notified by Board; irrespective of section 263

Covers persons other than a company or a person whose accounts are required to be audited under section 63 or any other law.

Who is a tax return preparer (section 264(2)(a))

Individual, not a section 515(3)(a)(ii) person, not an employee of the specified class, authorised under the Scheme

Section 515(3)(a)(ii) is an officer of a scheduled bank with which the assessee deals.

Electronic filing rules (section 533(2)(j))

Board rules fix classes who must e-file, form, manner and documents not attached

The rule-making power is here. The actual compulsory classes come from the rules.

Timely return rule

Carry forward allowed ⇔ return showing the loss filed by the due date under section 263(1)

Applies to business, speculation, specified business, capital and race horse losses. A belated return does not preserve them.

Exceptions to timely return

House property loss and unabsorbed depreciation: carry forward allowed even if the return is late

Learn these two as the only standard exceptions. The loss must still be properly computed and claimed in the return.

Speculation loss (section 113)

Set off only against speculation profits; carry forward ≤ 4 tax years after the loss year

Section 113(1) to (3). Cannot be set off against normal business profit.

Specified business loss (section 114)

Set off only against profits of another specified business; carried forward 'and so on'

The supplied text sets no year limit. Section 114 refers to specified business in section 46.

Race horse loss (section 115)

Loss = expenditure (not capital) for maintaining race horses − stake money, if stake money is less; set off only against income from the activity; carry forward ≤ 4 tax years

Stake money means gross prize money received by the owner.

Company share dealing (section 113(5) and (6))

Share purchase and sale by a company = deemed speculation, to that extent

Not applicable if gross total income mainly falls under house property, capital gains or other sources, or if principal business is trading in shares, banking or granting loans and advances.

Bank and insurer amalgamation (section 117(2))

Accumulated loss carried forward ≤ 8 tax years from the year it was first computed for the original predecessor

Applies to schemes brought into force on or after 1 April 2025. Speculation losses are excluded from accumulated loss.

Quick revision

• Section 263 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 governs return of income.
• Companies and firms must file a return regardless of income or loss.
• Others, such as individuals, file if total income exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to tax, computed before specified deductions.
• A person with a business or capital gains loss to carry forward must file a return.
• Due dates: 30 November where section 172 applies. Where section 172 does not apply: 31 October for companies, assessees whose accounts are required to be audited and partners of audited firms (and their spouses, if section 10 applies); 31 August for assessees with business or profession income whose accounts are not audited and partners of non-audited firms (and their spouses); 31 July for any other assessee.
• Belated return: within nine months from the end of the tax year or before assessment, whichever is earlier.
• Revised return: within twelve months from the end of the tax year or before assessment, whichever is earlier.
• Updated return: within forty-eight months from the end of the financial year following the tax year.
• An updated return cannot be a return of loss, reduce tax liability or increase a refund, with listed exceptions.
• A defective return gets fifteen days to rectify; if not, it is invalid, but the officer may condone delay before assessment.
• Section 263 does not apply to a specified senior citizen (section 402(39)) for a tax year in which tax has been deducted under section 393(1) [Table Sl. No. 8(iii)].
• Return of loss must be filed by the due date to carry forward the loss.

Common mistakes

• Testing income after Chapter VI-A style deductions against the exemption limit. Fix: Section 263(1)(a)(iii) tests income before Chapter XVII-B, Schedule VIII (Sl. No. 1) and the deductions under sections 82 to 88. Compute that figure first.
• Saying a firm or company with a loss need not file. Fix: Section 263(1)(b) requires companies and firms to file regardless of income or loss.
• Giving 31st July to a non-audit business assessee. Fix: Under the table as substituted w.e.f. 1-4-2026, non-audit business or profession cases have 31st August. Use Row 3.
• Looking at the partner's own audit status instead of the firm's. Fix: The table covers a partner of a firm whose accounts are or are not required to be audited. The firm's audit status decides between 31st October and 31st August.
• Using nine months for a revised return. Fix: Under the Act as amended w.e.f. 1-4-2026, revised return is twelve months from the end of the tax year. Belated stays at nine months.
• Counting the nine or twelve months from the due date. Fix: Both limits run from the end of the relevant tax year, i.e. 31 March, not from the due date.
• Saying a defective return is automatically invalid. Fix: The return becomes invalid only if the defect is not rectified within the period allowed after the AO's intimation.
• Counting the 15 days from the date of filing the return. Fix: The 15 days run from the date of the AO's intimation of the defect.
• Letting any director sign a company return even when a managing director is available. Fix: Write the order: managing director first, director only if there is no managing director or he cannot sign for an unavoidable reason.
• Allowing a company to use the tax return preparer scheme. Fix: Remember the specified class in section 264(2)(b) excludes a company and any person whose accounts are required to be audited.

Exam tips

• Write the clause number with the answer. A line like 'section 263(1)(a)(ii) and (1)(b)' earns marks.
• In case questions, first look for residential status. It decides whether the foreign asset clause applies.
• Always say 'before deductions under sections 82 to 88'. Examiners look for this phrase.
• For due dates, check whether the person is audited and whether section 172 applies, then match the Table.
• Write the row or condition next to the date. Marks go for the reasoning, not only the date.
• In case scenarios, find the audit status and the section 172 trigger first. Everything else follows.
• Learn Row 3 well. It is a newly substituted date and examiners like to test it.
• For partners, always state the firm's audit status in your answer.