ITR filing deadline: Income Tax Department asks business, professional taxpayers to file returns by August 31

The Income Tax Department has urged taxpayers with business or professional income who are not required to undergo a tax audit to file their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for Assessment Year 2026-27 by August 31.

More than 2 crore ITR-3 and ITR-4 forms had been filed on the e-filing portal as of August 20, taking the total number of ITRs filed for AY 2026-27 to over 6.5 crore.

This includes more than 5.9 crore ITR-1 and ITR-2 forms filed by the July 31 deadline.

“31st August 2026 is the due date for filing ITRs for AY 2026-27 for taxpayers with business or professional income who are not subject to audit. Be the tax hero who files on time,” the Income Tax Department said in a post on X.

Taxpayers in the non-audit category can file the applicable ITR form—ITR-3, ITR-4, ITR-5 or ITR-7.

ITR-3 is filed by individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) earning income from a proprietary business or profession.

ITR-4 is a simpler form for small and medium taxpayers.ITR-5 is filed by firms, Limited Liability Partnerships and cooperative societies.

ITR-6 is filed by companies registered under the Companies Act, while ITR-7 is filed by trusts and charitable institutions.