The 48-month window sounds generous until you work out where you actually are in it. The clock runs from the end of the assessment year, not the financial year, and the cost steps up every twelve months from that point.
So the only question that matters is which assessment years are open today, and what each one costs today. That table is below, dated, and it is the first thing on the page for a reason.
Which years are open on 25 September 2026
| Assessment year | Income earned in | Window closes | Additional tax if you file now | Band rises to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AY 2025-26 | FY 2024-25 | 31 March 2030 | 25% | 50% from 1 April 2027 |
| AY 2024-25 | FY 2023-24 | 31 March 2029 | 50% | 60% from 1 April 2027 |
| AY 2023-24 | FY 2022-23 | 31 March 2028 | 60% | 70% from 1 April 2027 |
| AY 2022-23 | FY 2021-22 | 31 March 2027 | 70% | Window closes |
AY 2021-22 (FY 2020-21) closed on 31 March 2026 and cannot be updated any more. If you have unreported income from that year or earlier, section 139(8A) is no longer available and the position has to be handled through whatever proceeding the department opens, if it opens one.
Two things about this table are easy to miss.
Every band steps up on the same day. Each of the four years crosses into its next twelve-month bracket on 1 April 2027, because each bracket is measured from 31 March of the assessment year's closing. So a case you notice in March 2027 and file in April 2027 costs ten percentage points more on identical figures. AY 2022-23 does not step up: it simply goes.
The cheapest year to fix is the most recent one. AY 2025-26 is in the 25% band today. That is the same year for which a belated or revised return is no longer possible, so for many people it is the live one.
Why AY 2026-27 is not on the list
For FY 2025-26, reported in AY 2026-27, you do not need an ITR-U yet and should not use one. A belated return under section 139(4) is open until 31 December 2026 and a revised return under section 139(5) until 31 March 2027. Both are far cheaper: a fixed fee and interest rather than a quarter of your tax on top. Our guide to belated and revised return filing explains both routes.
An ITR-U for AY 2026-27 becomes relevant only from 1 April 2027, and then at 25%. The routes that are open now are set out in our post on ITR due dates for AY 2026-27.
What an ITR-U is
An updated return is a return you file under section 139(8A) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 to report income you did not report, or did not report correctly, in an earlier year.
You can file one whether or not you filed an original, belated or revised return for that year. It is available to every kind of taxpayer: individual, HUF, firm, LLP, company, AOP or BOI. It is filed on the relevant ITR form for that year, with the additional tax paid up front.
It is the last rung on the correction ladder. A return under section 139(1) is the original, and our income tax return filing service covers it. Sections 139(4) and 139(5) give you the belated and revised routes, and both close within the assessment year or shortly after. Section 139(8A) keeps a door open for four years after that, at a price.
What people actually use it for. In our experience the pattern is the same five cases, and four of them start with the department's own data:
- Income sitting in your AIS that never reached your return: bank interest, dividends, share or mutual fund sales, rent, a forgotten fixed deposit.
- Crypto left out of an earlier year. Exchanges report against your PAN, and the CBDT has written to taxpayers whose exchange data did not match their returns. See our crypto tax filing service.
- Capital gains reported wrongly: a property sale netted against the wrong cost, an ESOP or RSU sale missed, or a broker statement read as net profit rather than gross consideration. Our guide to capital gains in your ITR covers the reporting.
- A year never filed at all, which is common after a job change or a spell abroad.
- A section 148 or 148A communication, where the ITR-U is one option among several rather than the default.
What it costs: the additional tax under section 140B
Section 140B fixes the additional tax as a percentage of the aggregate of the tax and the interest you owe for that year. It is not a percentage of your income, and it is not a penalty you can argue down.
| Filed within, counted from the end of the assessment year | Additional tax under section 140B |
|---|---|
| Up to 12 months | 25% of the tax and interest |
| More than 12 and up to 24 months | 50% |
| More than 24 and up to 36 months | 60% |
| More than 36 and up to 48 months | 70% |
The ordinary charges still run underneath it. Interest under section 234A at 1% a month on unpaid tax from the original due date. Interest under sections 234B and 234C where advance tax and its instalments were short. And the section 234F late fee of ₹1,000 or ₹5,000 where no return was filed on time.
The whole amount has to be paid through e-Pay Tax before the ITR-U is filed. The portal will not accept an updated return with tax outstanding.
The arithmetic, on an illustration
Take a salaried person who left ₹4,00,000 of share sale gains out of an AY 2024-25 return and is filing now, in the 50% band. These are illustrative figures, not a quote.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Additional tax on the unreported gains | ₹50,000 |
| Interest under sections 234B and 234C | ₹12,000 |
| Sub-total: tax and interest | ₹62,000 |
| Additional tax under section 140B at 50% | ₹31,000 |
| Total payable before filing | ₹93,000 |
The same case filed after 1 April 2027 moves to the 60% band and costs about ₹6,200 more. That is the whole argument for doing the arithmetic in the week you notice the problem rather than the month you get a notice.
If you file after a section 148 notice
An updated return furnished in pursuance of a notice under section 148 carries a further 10% under section 140B(3A). The bands become 35%, 60%, 70% and 80% of tax and interest.
This is worth being precise about, because it is commonly stated wrongly. Two different provisions are involved and they point in opposite directions:
- A notice under section 148 does not shut the voluntary door. You can file an ITR-U in pursuance of it, at the band plus 10%.
- A show cause notice under section 148A issued after 36 months from the end of the assessment year is a bar. Section 139(8A) is then closed for that year.
If either communication has reached you, send it to a CA before you file anything. Our income tax notice reply service handles the notice, and the ITR-U question is decided alongside it rather than instead of it.
When you cannot file an ITR-U at all
This is the section the reader needs before anything else, and it is the one most pages skip. If any of the following applies, section 139(8A) is closed to you for that year.
| Bar | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| It would be a return of loss | You cannot declare a fresh loss in an ITR-U. You can use one to reduce a loss you had already declared. See set off and carry forward of losses |
| It reduces your total tax liability | An ITR-U can only increase your income and tax, never decrease either |
| It increases a refund | You cannot claim or enlarge a refund through an ITR-U, even a genuine one |
| A search under section 132 was initiated in that year or earlier | Search cases are outside the scheme |
| Books were requisitioned under section 132A, or a survey was carried out under section 133A | A survey limited to TDS or TCS verification is not a bar |
| Money or documents seized in another person's case relate to you | The bar follows the material, not the person |
| Assessment, reassessment, revision or re-computation is pending or completed | Once a proceeding is on, the route closes |
| The Assessing Officer has information about you under the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act 2002, the Black Money Act 2015, the Benami Act 1988 or SAFEMA 1976 | Information under any of these bars an updated return |
| Information about you has been received under a DTAA or a Tax Information Exchange Agreement | Foreign-sourced information bars it |
| Prosecution proceedings have been initiated | Closed |
| A show cause notice under section 148A has been issued after 36 months from the end of the assessment year | The late part of the window is cut short in reassessment cases |
And one constraint that is not a bar but behaves like one: only one updated return can be filed for an assessment year, and an ITR-U cannot itself be revised. You get a single attempt, which is why the computation is settled before the return goes in.
ITR-U or revised return: prefer the cheaper one
If the revised window is still open, use it. A revised return under section 139(5) costs nothing extra, can move your tax in either direction, and can be filed as many times as you need inside the window. An ITR-U is one-directional, single-shot and priced.
| Revised return | Updated return (ITR-U) | |
|---|---|---|
| Section | 139(5) | 139(8A) |
| Window for AY 2026-27 | Until 31 March 2027 | From 1 April 2027 |
| Window generally | To the end of the assessment year | 48 months from the end of the assessment year |
| Can it reduce your tax? | Yes | No |
| Can it claim a refund? | Yes | No |
| Can it declare a loss? | Yes, if the original was on time | No, only reduce a loss already declared |
| How many times | No limit inside the window | Once, and it cannot be revised |
| Extra cost | Nil, unless the correction raises your tax | 25% to 70% of tax and interest, plus 10% more after a section 148 notice |
The full three-way comparison, including the belated return, is in our post on belated, revised and updated returns.
After you file
E-verify within 30 days, as with any return. An updated return that is never verified is treated as invalid, which leaves you exactly where you started except that the tax has already been paid.
The form also asks you to state the reason for updating. Keep the working papers behind the figures: the AIS extract, the broker statement, the bank entries. If the department comes back on the year, the file you built to compute the ITR-U is the answer.
Income-tax Act, 1961 or 2025: which one governs your ITR-U
Every year in the table at the top of this page, AY 2022-23 through AY 2026-27, falls under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026 and governs Tax Year 2026-27 onwards.
| Point | Income-tax Act, 1961 | Income-tax Act, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Return of income | Section 139 | Section 263 |
| Revised return | Section 139(5) | Section 263(5), within 12 months from the end of the tax year, with a fee where it is furnished after nine months |
| Updated return | Section 139(8A), 48 months | Section 263(6), the 48-month outer limit continues |
| Additional tax | Section 140B | Not stated here; the percentages under the 2025 Act are not confirmed |
| Late fee | Section 234F, ₹1,000 or ₹5,000 | Section 428, same amounts |
| Return forms | ITR-1 to ITR-7, ITR-U | To be notified |
The point that catches people: the Act that governs an ITR-U is the Act that governed the year, not the Act in force on the day you file. An updated return filed in 2029 for AY 2024-25 is still a section 139(8A) return under the 1961 Act.
The four mistakes that cost the most
- Expecting a refund. An ITR-U cannot generate or increase one. A return filed for that purpose is invalid, whatever the merits.
- Letting a band roll over. 1 April 2027 moves all four open years up a bracket. Ten percentage points is usually more than the cost of getting it done.
- Filing without checking the bars. A pending assessment, a survey, or a section 148A notice issued after 36 months closes the route. Filing anyway wastes the payment.
- Using an ITR-U while the revised route is open. For AY 2026-27 the revised route runs to 31 March 2027 and is free. There is no reason to pay 25% on top of tax you would owe anyway.
What to do next
If you are looking at an AY 2022-23 problem, the date to work back from is 31 March 2027, and after that the year is gone. If it is AY 2023-24, AY 2024-25 or AY 2025-26, the cost you are looking at today goes up on 1 April 2027.
Regikart is a CA and CS firm serving 250+ clients from Kolkata (head office), Delhi and Bengaluru. We confirm the year is open and that none of the bars applies, reconstruct the income from your AIS, TIS and Form 26AS, and show you a single figure of tax, interest, fee and section 140B additional tax before anything is paid. See our income tax return filing service, contact us, or call or WhatsApp +91 70444 94804.
Frequently asked questions
Which assessment years can I file an ITR-U for right now?
On 25 September 2026, four years are inside the 48-month window: AY 2025-26 at 25% additional tax, AY 2024-25 at 50%, AY 2023-24 at 60% and AY 2022-23 at 70%. AY 2022-23 closes on 31 March 2027. AY 2021-22 closed on 31 March 2026 and can no longer be updated.
What is the time limit to file an ITR-U?
Forty-eight months from the end of the relevant assessment year, extended from 24 months by the Finance Act, 2025. The clock runs from the end of the assessment year, not the financial year, so an AY 2024-25 updated return can be filed up to 31 March 2029.
How much additional tax does an ITR-U carry?
Under section 140B it is 25% of the tax and interest where the return is filed up to 12 months from the end of the assessment year, 50% from 12 to 24 months, 60% from 24 to 36 months and 70% from 36 to 48 months. The percentage applies to the aggregate of tax and interest, not to your income.
When do the bands go up?
On 1 April 2027 for every year currently open, because each band is measured in twelve-month brackets from the end of the assessment year. AY 2025-26 moves from 25% to 50%, AY 2024-25 from 50% to 60% and AY 2023-24 from 60% to 70%. AY 2022-23 does not move up; its window closes on 31 March 2027.
Can I claim a refund by filing an ITR-U?
No. An ITR-U cannot reduce your total tax liability, increase a refund or create one. It exists only to report income you did not report, or to correct something in a way that increases your tax. A return filed for any other purpose is invalid.
Can I file an ITR-U after receiving a reassessment notice?
An updated return furnished in pursuance of a notice under section 148 is allowed, and carries a further 10% under section 140B(3A), making the bands 35%, 60%, 70% and 80%. A show cause notice under section 148A issued after 36 months from the end of the assessment year works the other way: it bars an ITR-U for that year.
Is there a government fee for filing an ITR-U?
No. There is no government fee to file any income tax return, including an updated return. The cost is the tax, the interest under sections 234A, 234B and 234C, the section 234F late fee where no return was filed on time, and the section 140B additional tax, all of which are paid to the department.
When can an ITR-U not be filed?
Where it would be a loss return, reduce your tax or increase a refund; where a search under section 132, a requisition under section 132A or a survey under section 133A took place; where material seized in another person's case relates to you; where an assessment, reassessment, revision or re-computation is pending or completed; where the Assessing Officer holds information under PMLA, the Black Money Act, the Benami Act or SAFEMA; where information arrived under a DTAA or TIEA; where prosecution has begun; or where a section 148A notice was issued after 36 months.
Can I reduce a loss I had declared earlier through an ITR-U?
Yes. The bar is on declaring a fresh loss, not on cutting one you had already claimed. Reducing a carried-forward loss or unabsorbed depreciation through an updated return is permitted, and that is often exactly what is needed where the original claim was overstated.
How many ITR-Us can I file for the same year?
One. Section 139(8A) permits a single updated return per assessment year, and it cannot itself be revised. That is the reason to settle the computation, the band and the eligibility before filing rather than after.
Should I file an ITR-U or a revised return?
Whichever is cheaper and still open. For AY 2026-27 the revised window runs to 31 March 2027, costs nothing extra and works in both directions, so there is no case for an ITR-U yet. Reach for section 139(8A) only once the belated and revised windows have closed, or for a year you never filed.
ITR-U se refund mil sakta hai?
Nahi. ITR-U sirf woh income declare karne ke liye hai jo pehle report nahi hui thi, aur jisse tax badhta hai. Isse tax kam nahi kiya ja sakta, refund claim ya badhaya nahi ja sakta. Refund ke liye belated ya revised return hi kaam aata hai, aur woh windows AY 2026-27 ke liye 31 December 2026 aur 31 March 2027 tak khuli hain.
Which Act applies to an ITR-U I file now?
The Income-tax Act, 1961, for every year currently open. The Act that governs an updated return is the Act that governed the year it relates to, not the Act in force on the day you file. The Income-tax Act, 2025 applies from Tax Year 2026-27, where the updated return sits in section 263(6).
About the author
CA Deepak Jaiswal
Founding Partner, FCA at Regikart. Want to discuss this in the context of your business?
