What if you don't e-verify your ITR within 30 days?

If you do not e-verify within 30 days, the department treats your return as never furnished. It is not processed, no refund is issued, and you cannot revise it. The routes still open depend on the dates: verify late, discard and file afresh, or, much later, file an updated return with additional tax.

The details below are those TaxCare applies for the tax year 2025-26, under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The windows and fees for the tax year 2026-27 under the Income-tax Act, 2025 will be added once the rules are confirmed.

What goes wrong while the return is unverified

• Nothing is processed. The department does not look at it.
• No refund. Refunds start only after verification.
• You cannot revise it. The first action is to verify it or discard it. A revised return against a return that legally does not exist would be rejected.
• The clock runs. If the due date for filing passes during these 30 days, the delay can turn into a late fee and interest.

Your options after 30 days

TaxCare's rules identify the outcome as "invalid" and give these ways forward, depending on the date.

Option 1: Late e-verification

The portal has a route for late verification, which needs a reason for the delay. If it is accepted, the date you verify counts as the filing date. If that date is after the due date, the return is a late one, with a fee and interest.

On the e-filing portal, a registered user raises a Condonation Request under Services, chooses "Delay in submission of ITR-V", picks the return and selects a reason for the delay from the list the portal gives. You need to be a registered user, and the page also lists a validated, EVC-enabled bank or demat account as a prerequisite. The portal confirms the request with a transaction ID by email and SMS. The decision is the department's.

Option 2: File a fresh return

Because the earlier return does not count, you can file a new one. What kind of return it is depends on the date.

For the tax year 2025-26, the due date for most salaried people is 31-Jul-2026, and the belated window runs to 31-Dec-2026.

Option 3: Updated return (ITR-U)

After the belated window closes, an updated return can be filed for up to 48 months after 31 March of the year after the tax year (31-Mar-2027 for the tax year 2025-26, so up to 31-Mar-2031). It carries additional tax on the tax and interest: 25% if filed within 12 months of that 31 March, 50% within 24 months, 60% within 36 months and 70% within 48 months. It cannot be used to claim a refund, to show a loss, or to reduce income or tax.

So if you missed e-verification and are owed a refund, the updated return will not help you. The only path to a refund is one of the earlier windows.

The discard trap

The portal lets you discard a return that has not been verified. This sounds tidy but has a cost: discarding erases the filing date. If you filed on time and discard it, a fresh return after the due date is belated. That means:

• A late fee of ₹5,000 (or ₹1,000 if total income is ₹5,00,000 or less), if you were required to file.
• Interest of 1% per month or part of a month on unpaid tax.
• Loss of carry-forward for most losses.
• No old regime.

If you are still inside the 30 days, verify instead of discarding.

The portal lets you discard only while the return still shows as unverified, and a discarded return counts as not filed at all. The department advises checking whether the filing deadline is still open before you discard.

Timeline example

Tax year 2025-26, salaried person, due date 31-Jul-2026.

• File on 20-Jul-2026. The 30 days end on 19-Aug-2026.
• Not verified by 19-Aug-2026. The return lapses.
• The due date has passed, so a fresh return filed now is belated, allowed until 31-Dec-2026.
• After 31-Dec-2026, only an updated return remains.

What to do right now

1. Check how many days are left from your filing date.
2. If inside 30 days, e-verify at once. Aadhaar OTP is the quickest. See our guide on how to e-verify your ITR.
3. If past 30 days, decide between late verification and a fresh return. Compare the fee and interest on each. A Tax Expert can help.
4. Do not discard without checking the due date.

How to avoid it

E-verify in the same sitting as filing. TaxCare treats an unverified return as unfinished, and reminds you the day after filing, and again when 7, 2 and 1 days are left.

How TaxCare helps

TaxCare tells you the day count on a filed return, shows whether it can still be verified or has lapsed, explains which kind of fresh return the date allows, and warns before a discard would turn an on-time return into a belated one. The correction route is always the one the date decides, not an option you have to guess. A Tax Expert can take over a lapsed case.

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