Income Tax for FY 2025-26

You are eligible to get an income tax refund from the government if you have paid taxes in excess of your financial liability for the applicable financial year. Your applicable refund amount will be calculated at the time of filing ITR and credited to you as and when the refund has been processed by the income tax authorities.

Professional tax is a state level tax applied on the income earned by individuals within the specific state. Currently professional tax is applicable only to individuals located in specific states in India that collect professional tax and the rate of professional tax as well as exemption limit varies from state to state. On the other hand, income tax is a central tax i.e. it is payable to the central government tax authorities by the tax assessee and rate of taxation is the same all over India. It is also notable that the amount paid in lieu of professional tax gets deducted from income tax liability of the tax assessee at the time of Income Tax filing.

Income tax is the tax payable by an individual/firm/group for the income earned by them during the applicable financial year. The income tax liability of a tax assessee is calculated based on the applicable income tax slab rate and subject to other factors such as rebate, tax saving investments, etc. On the other hand, income tax return is an annual record of income earned, tax liability, tax paid, investment made, etc. during the applicable year. This record is to be submitted to the applicable tax authorities in a prescribed format known as the income tax return form. This process of submitting the income tax return form is known as income tax return filing. Thus income tax is the tax payable on income while income tax return is the annual record of income and tax details that need to be submitted by the assessee to the tax authorities.

A tax is a type of payment that needs to be paid by an individual or organisation with respect to income or expenditure. Tax on income is termed as income tax and is an example of direct tax, while tax payable on consumption is termed as indirect tax. A duty is also a type of tax however it is only applicable to imports/exports. When this duty is applied by the importing country, it is termed as import duty, while when the duty is applied by the exporting country, it is termed as export duty.

Income tax is a direct tax that individuals and entities need to pay to the government on their annual income and profits earned for the applicable financial year. It is important since this tax collected by the government is utilized to fund essential sectors such as healthcare, education and agriculture and support public services and development.

Individuals and businesses whose net taxable income for a fiscal exceeds Rs. 2.5 lakh are liable to pay income tax.

If you have made investments and/or are eligible or any deductions or exemptions, you can choose the old tax regime. In case, you haven’t made any investments, you can opt for the New Tax Regime.

At present, women do not receive any special income tax exemptions. 

Income tax for self-employed individuals is calculated according to the government’s tax slabs set for the particular financial year. 

The last date to file income tax returns for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27) is 31st July 2026.

You can file your income tax return online via the income tax e-filing website, logging in to your income tax account and filling in the relevant ITR form.

There are 7 different types of ITR forms- ITR Form 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and ITR Form 7. You can choose a suitable form to file your ITR depending upon your annual income, income sources, your profession, whether you are an individual or entity, etc.

In case you miss the due date to file your ITR, you can file a belated return by 31st December of the assessment year. However, you will have to pay a penalty and interest for late filing. 

In case you feel you have made a mistake in your ITR, you can re-submit your return. This is known as revised return and it can be submitted three months before the end of the relevant AY.

If you are purchasing a house by taking a loan, you can claim deduction on interest paid up to Rs.2 lakh on self-occupied property under section 24(b). Whereas, the entire interest amount can be claimed as deduction in case of let out property. Moreover, principal repayment of Rs.1.5 lakh can also be claimed under section 80C.

As per the Budget update 2025, under the New Tax Regime no income tax has to be paid on annual income up to Rs.12.75 lakh for salaried individuals, which includes a standard deduction of Rs. 75,000.

Yes, certain deductions can be claimed under Section 80D, 80DD and 80DDB on payments made for medical expenses. However, these deductions can be claimed only if you opt for the Old Tax Regime. 

You can check your income tax refund status by logging into the income tax portal. Then under the e-File tab select Income Tax Returns  and the click on “View Filed Returns” to check the refund status for the desired assessment year.

In case you receive an income tax notice, you should first try and understand the purpose of the notice, verify your details, identify the reason for the notice, gather relevant documents and respond promptly within the deadline. You can also seek professional help from a tax advisor or chartered accountant if you are unsure about how you should respond. Also keep records- your response, a copy of the notice, your reply and supporting documentation, etc., follow up and stay compliant.

TDS is tax deducted at source and some common sources of income on which TDS is deducted include your salary, rent payments that you may receive, interest on securities, interest on bank deposits, etc. You can check Form 16 provided by your employer if you are a salaried employee to know the amount of TDS that has been deducted on your salary. If you belong to the non-salaried class, you Form 16A provided by the deductor to know the TDS amount.

Yes, it is mandatory to link your PAN with Aadhaar to file your income tax return. 

If your income tax return is filed after the due date of 31st July 2025 but before 31st December 2025, a maximum penalty of Rs. 5,000 will be levied. However, taxpayers whose total income does not exceed Rs. 5 lakh are given a relied as the maximum penalty levied for such a delay will be Rs. 1,000.