Answer a few quick questions and find out instantly whether you need ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3 or ITR-4 for AY 2026-27.
What Is the ITR Form Selector?
Every filing season, someone walks into a CA's office with the wrong form half-filled and a refund stuck in limbo. The ITR form selector on Toolisky asks about your income, your residency, and a handful of disqualifying conditions, then tells you exactly which of ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3 or ITR-4 applies to you for AY 2026-27. It's built for salaried employees, freelancers, small business owners, traders, NRIs, and the CAs who file on their behalf.
There's no single formula here. It's a rule tree taken from the Income Tax Department's official form-applicability page:
IF resident individual AND total income ≤ ₹50 lakh
AND income only from salary/pension, one house property,
other sources, agri income ≤ ₹5,000, LTCG u/s 112A ≤ ₹1,25,000
AND not a director, no unlisted shares, no foreign assets,
no 194N TDS, no deferred ESOP tax, no brought-forward loss
→ ITR-1 (Sahaj)
ELSE IF same income basket but income is presumptive business
income under 44AD / 44ADA / 44AE
→ ITR-4 (Sugam)
ELSE IF no business or professional income at all
→ ITR-2
ELSE (business/professional income, regular books, or any
disqualifying condition applies)
→ ITR-3
Section 44AD, 44ADA and 44AE govern presumptive taxation. Section 112A governs long-term capital gains on listed equity. A wrong form gets your return marked defective under Section 139(9), and the CPC will send you a notice asking for a corrected filing.
Take Priya, a marketing manager in Pune. She earns ₹14 lakh a year in salary, has one self-occupied flat, and picked up ₹40,000 in dividend income this year. No capital gains, no business income, nothing on the disqualifier list.
She's a resident, her income is under ₹50 lakh, and everything she has falls inside the ITR-1 basket. The tool flags ITR-1 for her in under thirty seconds.
Now compare that to Ramesh, a freelance graphic designer in Nagpur. He earns ₹9 lakh from client projects and reports it under Section 44ADA, on a presumptive basis. He also has ₹2 lakh in savings account interest. He's resident, under the ₹50 lakh cap, and his business income is presumptive — so ITR-4 applies, not ITR-3. Had he maintained full books instead of going presumptive, he'd need ITR-3.
The eligibility conditions for ITR-1 through ITR-4 haven't changed for AY 2026-27 — the ₹50 lakh cap, the ₹1.25 lakh LTCG limit under section 112A, and the disqualifier list all carry over from last year. What did change is the clock: the Income Tax Department confirms the due date for filing ITR-4 for AY 2026-27 is August 31, 2026, a month later than the usual July 31 cutoff. This later date applies to individuals, HUFs and firms not subject to a tax audit. [VERIFY: whether audit-case ITR-3/5 filers get a separate extended due date beyond September 30, 2026 — confirm against the current CBDT circular before publishing.]
Yes, and you should. If you sell a house and book capital gains, ITR-1 no longer covers you. File ITR-2 instead for that assessment year. There's no penalty for using a different form than last year — the form follows your income profile, not your filing history.
No. Presumptive taxation under 44AD, 44ADA or 44AE is optional, and so is ITR-4. You can choose to maintain regular books and file ITR-3 instead, though you'll then need to keep proper accounts and may face audit requirements depending on turnover.
The CPC processes your return as defective under Section 139(9) and sends a notice giving you 15 days to fix it. Miss that window and your original return can be treated as never filed, which delays refunds and can trigger late-filing consequences.
No. Both forms are restricted to residents (other than not-ordinarily-resident). Any NRI or RNOR taxpayer needs ITR-2 or ITR-3, depending on whether they have business or professional income in India.
Yes. The exclusion applies to anyone holding a directorship, paid or unpaid. It doesn't matter whether the company is active, dormant, or family-owned — the flag still rules out ITR-1 and ITR-4.
No. ITR-1 is restricted to individuals only. An HUF with income that would otherwise fit the ITR-1 basket needs to file ITR-2 instead, or ITR-4 if it has presumptive business income.
Once you know your form, the harder part is often getting the numbers right inside it. If capital gains are part of your picture, run them through the Capital Gains Tax Calculator before you sit down with ITR-2 or ITR-3 — it handles LTCG and STCG on property, gold, and equity with indexation built in. Salaried filers comparing regimes before choosing a form should check the Salary Income Tax Calculator, and anyone with a rented-out flat should look at the Rental Income Tax Calculator to get the 30% deduction and loan interest treatment right first.
Calculations verified by our team including CA Anita Patil. View our full accuracy policy and meet the team →
Explore other tools in the same category or find similar calculators