



Missed income? ITR-U gives a second chance, but at a steep cost
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. December 2025 was an anxious month for many taxpayers who received a ‘nudge’ from the income tax department asking them to revisit their Income Tax Returns (ITR) for FY25. The department flagged possible discrepancies and urged taxpayers to revise their returns before the 31 December deadline.
That window has now closed. But what if an error still remains uncorrected, or a disclosure was missed altogether? In such cases, the only remaining route is filing an updated return—commonly known as ITR-U. It offers taxpayers a second chance to disclose missed income, though with important limitations and financial consequences.
An updated return can be filed within four years from the end of the relevant assessment year to report income that was not disclosed earlier. This is subject to the payment of additional tax, interest and penalty. For instance, a taxpayer who forgot to report bank savings interest income for FY25 can still correct the omission within this extended window, provided the prescribed conditions are met.
However, ITR-U is not intended to function as a general correction tool for all errors. “An updated return can be filed only to declare income that was not offered to tax earlier. It cannot be used to reduce tax liability, claim refunds or even keep tax payable unchanged.
Read on livemint.com