Section 139(8A), inserted by Finance Act 2022 (effective 1 April 2022), lets a taxpayer file an "updated return" (ITR-U) even after missing the original, belated and revised return deadlines — provided it increases total income and tax payable. Filing it requires paying additional tax under Section 140B, on top of the tax and interest otherwise payable on the additional income being disclosed.
The additional tax is a graduated surcharge based on how long after the end of the relevant assessment year the ITR-U is filed: 25% of the aggregate tax and interest payable if filed within 12 months of the end of the assessment year, 50% if filed after 12 but within 24 months, 60% if filed after 24 but within 36 months, and 70% if filed after 36 but within 48 months. Finance Act 2025 extended the outer filing window from 24 months to 48 months from the end of the relevant assessment year — the 60% and 70% brackets did not exist before that amendment.
ITR-U cannot be used to report a loss, to reduce a previously reported tax liability, or to claim or increase a refund. It is also barred where an updated return has already been filed for that year, where a search, requisition or survey has been initiated, or where an assessment, reassessment, revision or recomputation proceeding for the year is pending or has been completed. This tool takes the tax-plus-interest figure as an input and applies the applicable slab based on a live months-elapsed calculation from the end of the selected assessment year — it does not itself compute the underlying tax or interest.
A taxpayer under-reported income for AY 2023-24 (FY 2022-23). The assessment year ended 31 March 2024. They file an ITR-U on 15 July 2026 — about 27-28 months after the end of the assessment year. Tax and interest payable on the additional income disclosed works out to ₹1,20,000. No loss, no reduction in liability, no prior ITR-U, no search/survey, no pending assessment.
