Income Tax Return Due Dates 2026: Month-wise guide for salaried taxpayers, business owners & companies

Budget 2026 has revised income tax return (ITR) filing dates for certain taxpayers. With these changes, you should know by which date you need to file your return to avoid a penalty or the late filing fee. ITR deadlines can be different for salaried individuals, business owners, a partner in a firm, a taxpayer whose accounts require an audit or a transfer pricing report.

To make things simpler, here’s a clear, easy-to-understand snapshot of income tax return due dates, along with a month-wise guide to help you quickly identify when you are required to file your return and avoid late fees, interest, or delayed refunds.

Also read: Big relief in Budget 2026: TCS rates on these 6 things revised to 2%; full list inside

ITR filing deadlines explained: Check month-wise due dates

Class of Taxpayer	Due date if TP report is required	Due date if audit under Income-tax Act or any other law is required	Due date if assessee has income from business or profession	Due date in any other case
Company	30th November	31st October	31st October	31st October
Firm or LLP	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
Partner in Firm	30th November	31st October	31st August**	31st August
Individual or HUF*	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
Company claiming exemption under Section 11	30th November	31st October	31st October	31st October
AOP or BOI	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
Artificial Juridical Person	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
Co-operative Society	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
Local Authority	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
Registered NPOs	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
Political Party	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
Associations or Institutes referred to in Section 263(1)(a)(iv) & 263(9)(c)	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
(corresponding to Section 139(4C) of ITA 1961)
University, College or other Institution referred to in Section 45(3)(a)(i)/(ii)	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
(corresponding to Section 35(1)(ii)/(iii) of ITA 1961)
Business Trust	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
Investment Fund referred to in Section 224	30th November	31st October	31st August	31st July
(corresponding to Section 115UB of ITA 1961)

Source- Budget highlights from Taxmann

As per Budget 2026 highlights

• If an Individual is the spouse of a person who is a partner in a firm whose accounts are required to be audited and the provisions of Section 10 of the ITA 2025 [corresponding to Section 5A of the ITA 1961] apply to such a spouse, the due date shall be October 31.
• If a firm is not required to get its accounts audited, the due date shall be August 31.
• If such a firm is required to furnish a report of Transfer Pricing (TP) Audit, the due date shall be November 30.
• If the firm is not required to get its accounts audited, the due date for the partner shall still be August 31, even if he does not have income from business or profession.

Income Tax Return due dates – Month-wise guide

Who should file their income tax return by July 31?

Salaried individuals, pensioners, individuals and HUFs with no business or professional income, most small taxpayers with simple income sources.

Who should file an income tax return by August 31?

Individuals and HUFs with business or professional income (no audit required). Partners in firms (even if they don’t have business income themselves).

Who should file ITR by October 31?

Taxpayers whose accounts require audit under the Income-tax Act or any other law, Companies, trusts, NPOs, societies, AOPs and BOIs requiring audit need to file tax by October 31.

Who should file their income tax return by December 31?

Taxpayers who are required to file a Transfer Pricing (TP) report, companies, firms or individuals with specified international or domestic transactions should file their ITR by December 31.

What happens if ITR is not filed by the due date?

Filing ITR late can lead to late fees, interest, delayed refunds and the loss of certain benefits.