Income Tax Portal Update: Updated Return Filing Excel Utilities for ITR-1 to ITR-7 now Live in Line with Budget 2025
Income Tax Portal Adds Excel Utilities for Updated Returns Across All ITR Forms Under Budget 2025
The Income Tax Department has rolled out Excel utilities that let taxpayers file updated returns (ITR-U) across ITR-1 through ITR-7, bringing the e-filing system into compliance with changes introduced by the Finance Act, 2025.
Under the new regime, those who find omissions or discrepancies in previously filed tax returns can make corrections using the updated return facility. With the Excel tools now active, taxpayers can fill in schedules, run built-in validations offline, and generate a JSON file to upload through the income tax e-filing portal.
Until now, support for updated returns was limited to certain ITR forms. The full release means a broader set of taxpayers-including individuals, businesses, companies, trusts, and others-can use a systematic offline workflow to revise their past filings.
The department’s “Latest News” section confirms that on 6 September 2025, the Excel utilities for updated returns in ITR-5, ITR-6, and ITR-7 for assessment years 2021-22 and 2022-23 went live in alignment with the Finance Act, 2025.
This upgrade does not eliminate all friction. For many ITR types, taxpayers must still generate and upload JSON files-the system is not yet a fully seamless online editing interface. Earlier incremental rollouts reflect this phased approach. For example, the department released excel utilities for ITR-1 and ITR-4 for Assessment Year 2025-26 in late May 2025, allowing simpler returns to be handled earlier.
The later release of utilities for ITR-2 and ITR-3 (in July 2025) came after 100 days from the start of filing season, causing delays for thousands whose income profiles involve capital gains, crypto, or multiple sources.
Even now, the portal does not permit direct online filing for ITR-2 and ITR-3; the Excel + JSON upload route is the available workaround. Later, Excel utility support was extended to ITR-6, which is used by companies.
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Updated returns must meet time limits, and penalties or restrictions may apply depending on when corrections are filed.
Taxpayers should now visit the e-filing portal’s “Downloads / Offline Utilities” section, grab the relevant Excel tool, fill out details carefully, validate them, generate the JSON file, upload, and ensure the process is completed within prescribed windows. Because each form now carries its own validation rules and changed disclosures (especially for capital gains, regimes, or special income), diligence is essential.
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