ITR-5 is the income tax return form the Income Tax Department intends for persons other than individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), companies, and filers of ITR-7. If you earned income in the financial year 2025-26, you file it in the assessment year 2026-27, and the current ITR-5 utilities are for that assessment year. The rest of this article explains how to confirm the form applies to you, which utility to use, and what changed in the schema.
Which year does “2025-26” refer to?
The label “2025-26” is ambiguous because it can mean a financial year or an assessment year. Under the Income Tax Act, 1961, income earned in the financial year 2025-26 is reported in the assessment year 2026-27. The Department’s Income Tax Returns FAQs on transition guidance set out this mapping. Keep the two terms apart when you look for utilities and notices.
| Term | Meaning | What you use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Financial year (FY) 2025-26 | The 12-month period in which the income is earned, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 | Identifying which income belongs in the return |
| Assessment year (AY) 2026-27 | The year in which that income is assessed and the return is filed | Choosing the ITR-5 utility, schema, and due date |
| Assessment year (AY) 2025-26 | The prior filing cycle, for income earned in FY 2024-25 | Only for returns that belong to that earlier cycle |
The most common error is downloading the AY 2025-26 utility to file FY 2025-26 income. The Department’s download listings for each assessment year contain separate utilities, so check the assessment year printed on the utility before you open it.
Who generally files ITR-5
The Department describes ITR-5 as the return for persons other than the following four groups:
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- Individuals
- Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs)
- Companies
- Persons filing ITR-7
This is a broad category description, not a checklist. Firms, limited liability partnerships, association of persons and body of individuals are the kinds of entities that commonly fall outside the first three groups, but whether your entity qualifies depends on its legal status and the form’s own instructions. Before you select ITR-5, confirm your legal status. If you are a company, or your return falls under ITR-7, ITR-5 is not the right form even if your income looks similar.
Which ITR-5 utilities are available now
For AY 2026-27, the portal homepage states that ITR-1 through ITR-7, including ITR-5, are available through online and offline utilities. The Department’s announcements give the following dates:
| Resource | AY 2025-26 (prior cycle) | AY 2026-27 (current cycle) |
|---|---|---|
| Excel-based utility | First release 8 August 2025; latest release 2 March 2026 | Availability announced 7 July 2026 |
| Online utility | Listed on the AY 2025-26 downloads page | Announced as available on 5 August 2026 |
| JSON schema | First release 8 August 2025; latest release 1 January 2026 | Listed on the portal’s utility pages |
| Validation rules | Latest release 14 August 2025 | Listed on the portal’s utility pages |
The AY 2025-26 release dates describe the earlier cycle only. They do not tell you which version to use for AY 2026-27, so download the current file from the AY 2026-27 section of the portal.
What changed in the AY 2025-26 schema
The CBDT’s document titled “AY 2025-26 ITR-5 Schema Change, Version 1.2,” dated 1 January 2026, lists the following technical changes:
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- A new return-filing enum for section 139(8A), which relates to updated returns.
- An added PartA_139_8A schedule.
- An added PartB-ATI schedule.
- Changes made on 23 December 2025 to the minimum values of specified slump-sale net-worth fields.
These are schema-level changes. Most filers will not see them as new questions. The updated-return items and the slump-sale fields matter only if your return involves those transactions.
Due date: a category-specific extension
A portal update dated 29 September 2026 extended the AY 2026-27 due date for the category listed at Serial No. 2 in the table below Explanation 2 to section 139(1). For that category, the return due date moved from 31 October 2026 to 21 November 2026, and the audit-report date moved from 30 September 2026 to 21 October 2026.
The extension applies to that category only. Check the statutory table to see whether you fall within it. If you do not, the portal update does not change your due date, and you should treat the original date as applicable until a later circular says otherwise. Because today’s date is 8 October 2026, confirm your category before you plan the filing.
The filing process: what official material confirms
Official material confirms that ITR-5 can be filed through both online and offline utilities for AY 2026-27. It does not provide a complete step-by-step walkthrough of preparation, submission, and verification that applies to every eligible entity. The steps below cover what to check at each stage. They are not a substitute for the instructions that come with the current utility.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →- Confirm the assessment year. Open the AY 2026-27 section of the portal and download the utility labelled for that year.
- Confirm the form. Check that ITR-5 is the correct form for your legal status, and that ITR-7 or another form does not apply.
- Choose the utility. Pick the online or offline utility. The offline Excel-based utility is one option; the online utility is the other.
- Enter the figures from the schema-relevant schedules. If your return involves an updated return under section 139(8A), a slump sale, or the schedules added in version 1.2, check those schedules against the instructions for the current cycle.
- Validate before you submit. Run the return through the utility’s validation step and correct any errors it reports.
If the utility rejects a file, first check whether you used an AY 2025-26 utility or schema for AY 2026-27 figures. A version mismatch is the most common cause of avoidable rejections, though the official material reviewed here does not list every error code.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Practical checks before you file
- The return is for FY 2025-26 income, filed in AY 2026-27.
- Your legal status is not individual, HUF, company, or ITR-7 filer.
- You are using the AY 2026-27 utility, not the AY 2025-26 one.
- You have checked whether the 29 September 2026 due-date update covers your category.
- Your return includes any of the schedules added in version 1.2 only if the transactions actually apply.
Sources
- Income Tax Department, AY 2025-26 ITR downloads listing, including the ITR-5 applicability description and utility release dates.
- Central Board of Direct Taxes, AY 2025-26 ITR-5 Schema Change, Version 1.2, dated 1 January 2026.
- Income Tax Department, announcement of the ITR-5 online utility for AY 2026-27, 5 August 2026.
- Income Tax Department, portal homepage and the 29 September 2026 AY 2026-27 due-date update.
- Income Tax Department, Income Tax Returns FAQs, transition guidance for FY 2025-26 and AY 2026-27.
Links to these pages are on the Income Tax Department portal. Search by the titles above, because this article does not reproduce their addresses.
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