ITR-1 & ITR-4 Excel Tool Live: File by July 31?

The Income Tax Department has released Excel-based filing tools for ITR-1 and ITR-4 for AY2026-27. If you are salaried or a small business owner, you can now download and fill your return offline before submitting it on the e-filing portal.

Here's what happened: The Income Tax Department has activated Excel Utility tools for ITR-1 and ITR-4 on its official e-filing portal for Assessment Year 2026-27 (FY2025-26).. ITR-1 is for salaried individuals with income up to ₹50 lakh; ITR-4 is for small business owners and freelancers opting for the presumptive tax scheme.. The Excel utility lets you fill your return offline, auto-calculate tax, and then upload the completed file to the portal — useful if your internet connection is unreliable..

What you should do: Download the ITR-1 or ITR-4 Excel utility from incometax.gov.in under 'Downloads > Offline Utilities' and start filling in your FY2025-26 income details now.. Gather your Form 16 from your employer, Form 26AS, and AIS (Annual Information Statement) from the portal before filling — mismatches trigger notices.. File before 31st July 2026 to avoid a late fee of ₹1,000 (income below ₹5 lakh) or ₹5,000 (income above ₹5 lakh) under Section 234F..

Cross-check every income entry in your ITR against your AIS on the portal — the tax department already knows about your FDs, dividends, and property sales. Any mismatch can trigger a scrutiny notice.