Income Tax Return (ITR) filing for AY 2025-26 is in full swing. As of today, August 19, 2025, over 3.2 crore taxpayers have filed their returns for FY 2024-25 while the Income Tax department has processed over 1.1 crore of 3.1 crore verified returns.
As the due date to file ITR without any penalty in non-audit cases is just a few weeks away, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has come up with a checklist on filing returns in ITR-1 and ITR-4 for the benefit of taxpayers.
In this article, we take a look at the 16 steps suggested by ICAI for correctly filing ITR-1 online on the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department.
Step 1: Log in to the e-Filing portal using your user ID and password.
Step 2: On your Dashboard, click e-File > Income Tax Returns > File Income Tax Return.
Step 3: Select Assessment Year as 2025–26 and Mode of filling as Online, then, click Continue
Step 4: In case you have already filled the Income Tax Return and it is pending for submission, click Resume Filing. In case you wish to discard the saved return and start preparing the return afresh, click Start New Filing
Step 5: Select Status as applicable to you and click Continue to proceed further.
Step 6: Select the ITR form and click Proceed.
Step 7: Once you have selected the ITR applicable to you, note the list of documents needed and click Let’s Get Started.
Step 8: Select the checkbox applicable to you regarding reason for filing ITR and click Continue
Step 9: For AY 2025-26 New Tax Regime is the default Tax Regime. Option “No” will be Auto-Selected for the question “If you want to opt out of New Tax Regime”. Select “Yes” in the Personal Information Section, if you wish to file your return under the Old Tax Regime.
(Review your pre-filled data and edit it if necessary. Enter the remaining/additional data (if required). Click Confirm at the end of each section).
Step 10: Enter/ Edit your income and total deductions details in the different sections. After completing and confirming all the sections of the form, click Proceed.
Step 10a: In case there is a tax liability.
After clicking on total tax liability, you will be shown a summary of your tax computation based on the details provided by you. If there is tax liability payable based on the computation, you will get the Pay Now and Pay Later options at the bottom of the page.
Step 10a (i): If you click on “Pay Now” you will be redirected to e-pay Tax service. Click Continue.
Step 10a(ii): After successful payment through e-Filing portal, a success message is displayed. Click Back to Return Filing to complete filing of ITR
Step 10b: In case there is no tax liability (No Demand/No Refund) or if you are eligible for a Refund. Click Preview Return. If there is no tax liability payable, or if there is a refund based on tax computation, you will be taken to the Preview and Submit Your Return page.
Step 11: On the Preview and Submit Your Return page, select the declaration checkbox and click Proceed to Validation.
Step 12: Once internal validation is successful, then click on Preview.
Step 13: Click on Preview of Return and proceed to validation.
Step 14: Once return is successfully validated with Upload level validation then click on Proceed to Verification.
Step 15: On the Complete your Verification page, select your preferred option and click Continue.
It is mandatory to verify your return, and e-Verification (recommended option – e-Verify Now) is the easiest way to verify your ITR – it is quick, paperless, and safer than sending a signed physical ITR-V to CPC by speed post.
Note: In case you select e-Verify Later, you can submit your return, however, you will be required to verify your return within 30 days of filing of your ITR.
Step 16: On the e-Verify page, select the option through which you want to e-Verify the return and click Continue.
Once you e-Verify your return, a success message is displayed along with the Transaction ID and Acknowledgement Number. You will also receive a confirmation message on your mobile number and email ID registered on the e-Filing portal
ITR-1 form is useful for taxpayers, especially salaried individuals, having income below ₹50 lakh and long-term capital gains under section 112 below ₹1,25,000. Read more about ITR-1 eligibility
here.
The
due date to file ITR for AY 2025-26 is September 15, 2025-26.
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