The Income-Tax Department has notified all ITR forms for assessment year 2026-27 (financial year 2025-26) and enabled Excel Utility for online forms ITR-1 (Sahaj), ITR-2 and ITR-4 (Sugam) on its e-filing portal. According to reports from Mint, individual taxpayers have until 31 July 2026 to file their ITR, while those using ITR forms 3 and 4 have until 31 August 2026. Taxpayers who miss the July deadline can still file a delayed return by 31 December 2026.
Section 80D of the old tax regime allows deductions towards health insurance premium payments and preventive health check-ups with specific limits. For self, spouse, or dependent children, the deduction limit is ₹25,000 (extended to ₹50,000 for senior citizens), which includes ₹5,000 for preventive health checkups. For parents, the limit is ₹25,000 (extended to ₹50,000 for senior citizens). The section also provides ₹50,000 deduction for medical expenditure incurred on senior citizens when no health insurance premium is paid. Taxpayers must provide proof including the name of the insurer, policy number, and health insurance amount in their ITR.
Section 80DD of the old tax regime offers flat deductions for medical treatment and maintenance of disabled dependents with varying limits based on disability severity. For persons with disability, the deduction limit is ₹75,000 irrespective of actual expenses incurred. For those with severe disability (80% or more), the limit increases to ₹1,25,000. To claim this deduction, taxpayers must provide comprehensive proof including nature of the disability, type of disability, amount of deduction, type of dependent, PAN of the dependent, Aadhaar of the dependent, acknowledgement number of form 10 IA filed in case of autism, cerebral palsy, or multiple disabilities; and UDID number (if available).
Section 80DDB of the old tax regime covers medical treatment for specified diseases with specific deduction limits. For self or dependent for specified diseases, the deduction limit is ₹40,000. For senior citizens, the limit increases to ₹1,00,000. Taxpayers must provide proof of medical treatment expenses and the nature of the specified disease to claim this deduction.
Section 80C of the old tax regime provides combined deduction limits of ₹1,50,000 for various payments including life insurance premium, provident fund contributions, subscription to certain equity shares, tuition fees, National Savings Certificate (NSC), housing loan principal, and other eligible items. As reported by Mint, taxpayers claiming deductions under Section 80C must provide the amount eligible for deduction, policy number or document identification number in their ITR. Section 80CCC covers annuity plans of LIC or other insurers towards pension schemes, while Section 80CCD (1) includes pension scheme contributions of central government employees.
