How to file ITR for salaried employees

A salaried person files by collecting Form 16, the AIS and Form 26AS (Form 168 from the tax year 2026-27), working out salary income, adding other income, choosing the regime, comparing tax with TDS, and then submitting and e-verifying the return within 30 days. Most salaried people with simple income file ITR-1.

The figures below are signed off for the tax year 2025-26 and provisional for the tax year 2026-27, which repeats them.

What you need

• Form 16 from each employer (Form 130 under the Income-tax Act, 2025). It shows your salary, exemptions and TDS.
• Your AIS and TIS, for interest, dividends and anything else reported about you.
• Form 26AS (up to the tax year 2025-26) or Form 168 (from 2026-27), to confirm the TDS actually reached the department.
• Bank interest certificates, share or fund statements, rent receipts and proofs for deductions.
• A bank account number (pre-validated) for the refund.

How salary income is worked out

Salary income is gross salary (salary, perquisites and profits in lieu), less the exempt allowances, less deductions under section 16.

HRA is the lowest of three amounts: the HRA you receive, rent paid less 10% of salary, and 50% of salary in a metro or 40% elsewhere.

Some salary-time receipts are exempt up to a limit. For example, on the 2025-26 rules the exemption for gratuity is up to ₹20,00,000 for non-government employees and leave encashment on retirement is exempt up to ₹25,00,000. Retrenchment compensation and voluntary retirement compensation are each exempt up to ₹5,00,000.

Step by step

1. Check your AIS and note salary, interest, dividends and any share sales. Fix wrong entries by giving feedback on the portal.
2. Check the TDS against your Form 26AS or Form 168. You can claim only TDS shown there.
3. Compute salary income from Form 16 or payslips.
4. Add other income: interest, rent, capital gains.
5. Pick the form. Salary with one house, interest and long-term capital gains on listed shares up to ₹1,25,000 is ITR-1. Otherwise ITR-2. See which ITR form to file.
6. Choose the regime. Calculate both. With no business income you choose in the return each year; the old regime must be chosen in a return filed by the due date. See old vs new tax regime.
7. Enter deductions if you chose the old regime, with their details. See proofs you need for each deduction.
8. Compare tax with TDS. If tax is more, pay self-assessment tax before submitting. If TDS is more, the difference is your refund.
9. Submit and e-verify within 30 days.

Common things to check

• Two employers. Report both. Ask the earlier employer for Form 16.
• Perquisites and ESOPs. Shares from an employer's stock option scheme are a perquisite in your salary (section 17(2)(vi) of the 1961 Act). If an eligible start-up employer has deferred the tax on them, you cannot use ITR-1.
• Rent paid with no HRA from the employer. In the old regime, section 80GG allows the least of ₹5,000 a month, 25% of total income, and rent paid minus 10% of total income, for the months in which you got no HRA. It is not available in the new regime.
• Interest income that Form 16 does not include. Savings and FD interest are yours to report.
• Foreign assets or income. These need ITR-2 and extra schedules.

Due date and late filing

For the tax year 2026-27 the normal date is 31-Jul-2027, unless extended. A late return costs a fee of ₹5,000 (₹1,000 if total income is ₹5,00,000 or less) and interest of 1% a month on unpaid tax, and the old regime is not available in a belated return on TaxCare's rules. See ITR due dates.

After you file

E-verify (Aadhaar OTP is the quickest) and then track processing. See how to e-verify your ITR and refund status and delays.

How TaxCare helps

TaxCare fetches your salary, TDS, AIS and Form 26AS or Form 168 from the portal after an OTP, picks the form, compares the old and new regimes and checks your figures against the department's before you submit. It sends e-verify reminders so the return does not lapse. Nothing is filed until you approve it. You can also file for parents and other family members. See pricing, or ask a Tax Expert when your situation is unusual.

This guide gives general information and is not professional tax advice.