Income-tax refund deadline for missed TCS credit in AY 2026-27 ITR is not over yet. Know how to claim

Abhishek filed his Income Tax Return (ITR) for AY 2026-27 much before the July 31 deadline but failed to claim credit for the tax collected at source (TCS) on a vehicle purchase made in the previous year. Reason: the TCS credit was not reflected in his Form 26AS and AIS due to an error on the seller's part.

If you missed claiming TCS credit in your ITR for AY 2026-27 filed before the July 31 deadline, you still have a chance to set things right and claim a refund by filing a revised return.

TCS is collected by sellers on specified transactions such as overseas tour packages, foreign remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), purchase of motor vehicles above ₹10 lakh, and certain other high-value transactions.

Like Abhishek, many taxpayers, especially those filing returns for the first time or those whose tax was collected by travel agents and banks, often discover later that they failed to claim the TCS amount as a refund.

Under Section 139(5) of the Income Tax Act 1961, a taxpayer can file a revised return to correct any omission or wrong statement. For the assessment year 2026-27 (financial year 2024-25), the original deadline for filing returns in ITR-1 and ITR-2 was July 31, 2026.

The window to file a revised return remains open until December 31, 2026. However, taxpayers can also fine revised return till March 31, 2027, by paying the prescribed late fees.

This means if you filed your original return but forgot to include TCS credits, you can file a revised return and claim the refund even now.

To claim the TCS refund, you need to ensure that the TCS amount is reflected in your Form 26AS and Annual Information Statement (AIS). If the collector has deposited the TCS with the government but it does not show up in Form 26AS, the taxpayer should first take up the matter with the collector. The credit cannot be claimed unless it appears in the AIS.

Lastly, you should not confuse TCS with TDS. Both appear separately in Form 26AS, and while TDS is deducted by the deductor, TCS is collected by the seller. Both, however, can be claimed as a refund if the total tax liability is less than the amount collected.