Missed, Wrong, or Unverified ITR? Know How to Rectify, Revise, or Re-File Your ITR
Several times, taxpayers miss their ITR (Income Tax Return) filing deadline due to glitches in the Income Tax e-filing portal. However, if a taxpayer becomes successful in filing his/her return before the due date (September 16, 2025, for the financial year 2024-25) despite issues in the portal, but in a hurry, makes some significant mistakes in ITR filing, then the question arises: what to do next to avoid penalties? Can the ITR still be rectified, or is there any chance to file a new one? Here’s what many tax professionals say:
Question 1: What if one has filed his/her ITR on or before the legal due date but has forgotten to e-verify it?
Answer: If you have successfully filed your income tax return (ITR) on or before the legal deadline but forgot to e-verify it, then there is a chance for you to delete the previous one and file a fresh one. One of the chartered accountants (CA) says this chance depends on the status of your ITR’s e-verification.
If you have not e-verified your ITR, then you can completely discard your return and begin filing a new ITR. However, once your ITR is e-verified, it is treated as validly filed. Now you cannot move to file a new return; instead, you will need to file a revised return under Section 139(5) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, in order to rectify mistakes in the earlier return.
For the financial year 2024-25 (assessment year 2025-26), the due date for filing a revised ITR is December 31, 2025. Another chartered accountant (CA) further added that taxpayers who have filed their returns with the ‘tax payable’ option or even entered notional CRNs for their tax payments now have the option to cancel their previous returns; however, they cannot do so if they have e-verified them yet. This facility of cancelling returns along with filing a return is currently available on the Income Tax Portal simultaneously.
Question 2: You have timely filed your ITR on or before the due date and also e-verified it. Is there still an option to file a revised return?
Answer: A chartered accountant said, according to the Income Tax Department, taxpayers are allowed to file a revised ITR until three months before the relevant assessment year ends, or before the completion of assessment, whichever is earlier.
For example, if a taxpayer filed his income tax return for the financial year 2024-25 (assessment year 2025-26). The due date to file a revised ITR is December 31, 2025. If a taxpayer files his revised return even after this date, then there is no value in filing it, and he may attract penalties or notices for late filing.
A tax expert says if you have timely filed your ITR and have even e-verified it, then you will need to file a belated return in order to correct mistakes in the previously filed ITR. If you have e-verified your return but have no option to discard it, in that case, you can file a revised return under section 139(5) with the correct details mentioned.
Once you’ve discarded your return, your initially filed ITR will be completely deleted from the Income Tax Portal, and then you will have the option to file a fresh return by entering new, complete, and correct details in it.
Question 3: How to check the tax payment challan status?
Answer: A tax expert says this short extension in the ITR filing due date from September 15 to 16, 2025, is a golden opportunity for the filers who had deposited their self-assessment tax in the last 2-3 days, and their tax payment challans were not generated at the time of making such payments.
In this case, people who missed filing their return yesterday can check their challan status in the e-pay tax service. Once the challan details show up in the system, they can file their return by adding those details.
