July 31 isn't the ITR deadline for everyone: Who can file income tax returns by August 31, 2026?

You have to file your Income Tax Return (ITR) within a specific due date or else you might end up paying a late fee of up to Rs 5,000 and have to submit a belated ITR. But if you miss the deadline and don't file a belated ITR, that's a whole different ballgame because it means you've violated the income tax law. This article focuses on the ITR filing deadline, which varies for those who don't need to undergo a tax audit.

Typically, July 31st is the due date to file ITR for students, salaried individuals, pensioners and others who aren't subject to tax audit. But this year, some non-tax audit taxpayers like contractual employees, freelancers with business income, can file their ITR on or before August 31, 2026.

Keep reading to find out the exact ITR filing due date for various types of taxpayers.

What is the ITR filing due date for students, salaried, pensioners for AY 2026-2027?

There is no change in ITR filing due date for salaried individuals, pensioners, students and other taxpayers with no business income or tax audit requirements.

Shalini Jain, Tax Partner, EY India, told ET Wealth Online: "The income tax return filing due date continues to remain 31st July for salaried individuals and other non-business non-audit taxpayers. Similarly, the existing due dates of 31st October and 30th November remain unchanged for taxpayers subject to audit requirements and transfer pricing compliances, respectively."

Category of taxpayer	AY 2026-27 (FY 2025-26)	Tax Year 2026-27
●Salaried individuals; pensioners and ●Other non-tax audit taxpayers (not having business/ profession income; not being a company)	July 31, 2026	July 31, 2027
●Taxpayers having business/ profession income whose accounts are not required to be audited(not being a company)*	August 31, 2026	August 31, 2027
●Companies and taxpayers subject to tax audit*	October 31, 2026	October 31, 2027
●Taxpayers requiring transfer pricing report under Section 92E*	November 30, 2026	November 30, 2027

Source: EY India

For which taxpayers is the ITR filing due date August 31, 2026 for AY 2026-2027?

Shaily Gupta, partner, Khaitan & Co, said to ET Wealth Online that Section 263 of Income Tax Act, 2025 [corresponding to section 139 of Income Tax Act, 1961] lays down the framework for filing income-tax returns.

Section 263(1)(c) of Income Tax Act, 2025 prescribes different due dates for different categories of taxpayers. The due date to file ITR is August 31, 2026 for these taxpayers:
(a) taxpayers engaged in business or profession not requiring audit [i.e., non-audit business cases],
(b) partners of non-audit firms [Partners of non-audit business cases]; and
(c) certain trusts;

Gupta says: "The Government has extended the due date for filing their returns from 31 July to 31 August. The additional month is intended to provide taxpayers with adequate time to finalise their books of account and complete the return filing process."

Also read: Confused about ITR forms? Here's how to pick the correct ITR for AY 2026-27

Budget 2026 amended ITR filing due dates for AY 2026-2027

Gupta says that Budget 2026 has amended the Income Tax Act, 2025 and Income Tax Act, 1961 both. The corresponding amendment has been made to Explanation 2 to section 139(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Gupta also says that although AY 2026-27 continues to be governed by the Income-tax Act, 1961, the due date for non-audit businesses and partners of non-audit firms has also been extended to August 31, 2026 through the Finance Act, 2026.

S Vasudevan, Senior Partner, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan, told ET Wealth Online that the Income-Tax Act, 2025, comes into force with effect from April 1, 2026 and is applicable prospectively from Tax year 2026-27 (i.e. FY 2026-27).

Accordingly, for FY 2025-26 (which is the Assessment Year 2026-27), where income is generated from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, the deadlines for filing ITR shall continue to be governed by the provisions of the Income?tax Act, 1961 as amended by Budget 2026.

ITR filing due date for transfer pricing cases:

Particular	Category of Assessee	Due date
Transfer Pricing cases	Assessees having international transactions or specified domestic transactions	November 30, 2026
Company/Audit cases (either under Income-tax Act or any other law)	Company Assessees (other than company) whose accounts are required to be audited Partner of a firm where firm’s accounts are required to be audited	October 31, 2026
Non audit- business income	Assessees (other than company) having business income and whose accounts are not required not required to be audited Partner of a firm whose accounts are not required to be audited	August 31, 2026

Source: Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan

Chartered Accountant Abhishek Bhavsar from ABAdvisory Group LLP - a niche transfer pricing firm said to ET Wealth Online: "For AY 2026-2027 (FY 2025-26), the transfer pricing reporting continues under the old regime using Form No. 3CEB by October 31, 2026 and the ITR by November 30, 2026."

Bhavsar says that taxpayers should already be preparing for next year, when Form No. 3CEB gets replaced by the far more granular Form No. 48 under the new Income-tax Act, which will demand transaction-level, ID-linked disclosures rather than a narrative report.

Procedural amendments like ITR due date made by Budget 2026 is applicable for this reason for AY 2026-2027

Chartered Accountant Suresh Surana says that it is important to distinguish between the law governing computation of tax liability and the law governing the return-filing procedure in the above case.

For FY 2025-26 relevant to AY 2026-27, the computation of income tax liability would continue to be governed by the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The Income Tax Department's transition FAQs also clarify that the ITR for income earned during FY 2025-26 is to be filed for AY 2026-27 under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Surana says: "However, procedural amendments relating to return filing, as made by the Finance Act, 2026, would apply for AY 2026-27." Accordingly, the extended due date of August 31, 2026 for taxpayers having income from business or profession whose accounts are not required to be audited, and the extended timeline for filing a revised income tax return up to March 31, 2027, would apply.

The department's FAQs also distinguish AY 2026-27 from Tax Year 2026-27 and clarify that for AY 2026-27, the return should be filed using old ITR forms under the Income Tax Rules, 1962.

Separately, the changes related to computation for Tax Year 2026-27, which includes income from FY 2026-27, will be regulated by the new framework as amended by the Finance Act, 2026. The corresponding return for Tax Year 2026-27 would be due only in 2027 and would be governed by Income Tax Act 2025 read with Income Rules 2026.