ITR-1 (Sahaj): Who Can File It and How, AY 2026-27

ITR-1 (Sahaj) is for a resident individual (not "resident but not ordinarily resident") whose total income is up to ₹50 lakh and comes only from salary or pension, up to two house properties, other sources such as interest, family pension and dividends, long-term capital gains under section 112A of up to ₹1.25 lakh, and agricultural income of up to ₹5,000. If you have any other kind of income, such as business income, short-term capital gains or foreign income, you need a different form, usually ITR-2.

For most salaried employees, ITR-1 is the right form. Below is the exact test for AY 2026-27 (income earned between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026), what changed this year, how ITR-1 differs from ITR-2, and a worked example.

ITR-1 is for which income? The AY 2026-27 checklist

You can file ITR-1 only if all of the following are true:

• You are an individual who is resident and ordinarily resident in India.
• Your total income is not more than ₹50 lakh.
• Your income comes only from: salary or pension; one or two house properties; other sources (savings and FD interest, dividends, family pension and similar); section 112A long-term capital gains up to ₹1.25 lakh; and agricultural income up to ₹5,000.

What changed for AY 2026-27: two house properties

Until last year, ITR-1 allowed only one house property, so a salaried person with a home they lived in and a second flat on rent was pushed to ITR-2. CBDT's Notification No. 45/2026, dated 30 March 2026 and applying to returns for AY 2026-27, replaced "one house property" with "two house properties" in the rules for ITR-1 (and ITR-4). Some older help pages on the portal still mention one property; the notified form is what counts.

A third property, even a vacant one, still takes you to ITR-2.

Who cannot file ITR-1

Even within the ₹50 lakh limit, ITR-1 is not for you if you:

• are a director in a company;
• held unlisted equity shares at any time during the year;
• have any short-term capital gain, or section 112A long-term gains above ₹1.25 lakh, or any other capital gain;
• have assets (including a financial interest in any entity) outside India, signing authority in a foreign account, or income from a source outside India;
• had TDS deducted under section 194N (cash withdrawals);
• have income tax deferred on ESOPs from an eligible start-up;
• have losses brought forward or to be carried forward under any head;
• have business or professional income of any kind.

Difference between ITR-1 and ITR-2

Both forms are for people without business income. The difference is how complicated the rest of your income is.

ITR-1 (Sahaj)

• Residents (ordinarily resident) only
• Total income up to ₹50 lakh
• Up to two house properties
• Only small section 112A gains (up to ₹1.25 lakh)
• No foreign assets or income, no directorship, no unlisted shares, no carried-forward losses

ITR-2

• Residents, non-residents and "not ordinarily resident" individuals, and HUFs
• Any amount of total income
• Any number of house properties
• All capital gains, including short-term gains, property sales and crypto
• Foreign assets and income, directors, unlisted shareholdings, losses to carry forward

Picking the simpler form when you are not eligible is not a shortcut. The department can treat a return in the wrong form as defective, and you then have to correct it.

Worked example: a Chennai software tester with a rented flat

Kavya, 34, is a software tester in Chennai. For FY 2025-26 she has:

• Gross salary: ₹14,20,000
• A flat she lives in, and a second flat let out for ₹20,000 a month (₹2,40,000 a year), on which she paid ₹12,000 municipal tax
• Savings account interest ₹18,000 and FD interest ₹42,000
• A long-term gain of ₹90,000 on equity mutual fund units held for three years

Step 1: Is ITR-1 allowed? She is resident, has two house properties (allowed from this year), her only capital gain is a section 112A gain below ₹1.25 lakh, and she has no foreign assets, directorship or unlisted shares. Yes.

Step 2: Compute income under the new (default) regime.

1. Salary: ₹14,20,000 less the ₹75,000 standard deduction = ₹13,45,000.
2. Let-out flat: ₹2,40,000 less ₹12,000 municipal tax = ₹2,28,000; less the 30% standard deduction of ₹68,400 = ₹1,59,600. The flat she lives in shows nil income.
3. Other sources: ₹18,000 + ₹42,000 = ₹60,000.
4. Income taxed at normal slab rates: ₹13,45,000 + ₹1,59,600 + ₹60,000 = ₹15,64,600.
5. The ₹90,000 section 112A gain is reported in the form but is within the ₹1.25 lakh exemption, so no tax arises on it.

Step 3: Tax at new-regime slab rates. Nil on the first ₹4,00,000; 5% on ₹4,00,001 to ₹8,00,000 = ₹20,000; 10% on ₹8,00,001 to ₹12,00,000 = ₹40,000; 15% on the remaining ₹3,64,600 = ₹54,690. Total ₹1,14,690, plus health and education cess. The section 87A rebate does not apply because her income is above ₹12 lakh.

Step 4: Compare with TDS. She checks that the TDS in her Form 16 and on her FD interest appears in Form 26AS, then pays any balance as self-assessment tax before filing.

Last year, the second flat alone would have forced Kavya onto ITR-2. This year it does not. If she had also sold some shares at a short-term gain, she would be back on ITR-2.

ITR-1 filing: step by step

1. Log in to incometax.gov.in with your PAN and password.
2. Go to e-File, then Income Tax Returns, then File Income Tax Return.
3. Select assessment year 2026-27 and online mode, status Individual, and ITR-1.
4. Review the pre-filled details (salary from Form 16, interest, dividends and TDS from AIS and Form 26AS) and correct anything that does not match your own records.
5. Choose your tax regime. The new regime is the default; non-business taxpayers choose the old regime in the return itself, and only in a return filed by the due date.
6. Check the tax computation. If tax is payable, pay it through e-Pay Tax as self-assessment tax and add the challan details.
7. Preview, submit, and e-verify within 30 days, by Aadhaar OTP, bank or demat EVC, net banking or DSC.

ITR-1 due date for AY 2026-27

The due date for ITR-1 was 31 July 2026. If you missed it, you can file a belated return until 31 December 2026, with a late fee under section 234F of up to ₹5,000, or ₹1,000 if your total income does not exceed ₹5 lakh. Revised returns can now be filed until 31 March 2027, with a fee if you revise after 31 December 2026.

Common ITR-1 mistakes

• Leaving out exempt income. A small section 112A gain is tax-free but must still be reported.
• Ignoring FD and savings interest. Interest is taxable even if no TDS was deducted, and it already appears in your AIS.
• Not checking 26AS before filing. A TDS credit that is not in 26AS will not be allowed, however real it is.
• Filing ITR-1 with a short-term gain or a third property. One stock sale held under a year is enough to make ITR-1 the wrong form.
• Not e-verifying. An unverified return is treated as invalid.

hellobooks< / a > -fits-in">Where HelloBooks fits in

If your only income is salary, interest and a rented flat, you do not need accounting software. Your Form 16, AIS and Form 26AS are the records, and HelloBooks does not file ITRs.

HelloBooks becomes useful the moment that changes, for example when you start freelancing or consulting on the side. That moves you off ITR-1 and onto ITR-3 or ITR-4, and those forms need business figures. HelloBooks keeps invoices, expenses and bank transactions in one set of books, produces the profit and loss account your CA works from, and reconciles TDS deducted by your clients against Form 26AS so the credits you claim are ones the department can see.

This is general information as of November 2026, not tax or legal advice. Check the official source or a qualified CA for your situation.