The Income Tax Department rolled out the AY 2026-27 portal updates on April 10, 2026 ahead of the July 1 filing window. Five changes will affect almost every taxpayer.
Change 1: Improved pre-fill
The portal now pre-fills 80%+ of ITR-1 fields automatically. This includes:
- Salary from Form 16 (Part B)
- Bank interest from AIS
- Dividend income (per ISIN)
- TDS credits from 26AS
- Tax payment challans
What used to take 30 minutes for a salaried filer now takes 10. Check every pre-filled number against your Form 16 — small mismatches still happen with bonus arrears or LTA components.
Change 2: Mutual fund SOA auto-fetch
For the first time, the portal pulls Statement of Account (SOA) data directly from CAMS and KFintech. Capital gains from equity mutual funds, debt funds, and ELSS are pre-populated by ISIN with cost basis, sale price, and holding period.
This is huge if you switched funds, redeemed for a goal, or did SIP-based redemptions. No more manual XIRR work.
Cross-check: SOA covers AMC-registered transactions only. Direct equity (broker-held shares) still requires manual entry from your broker's capital gains report.
Change 3: Capital gains schedule restructure
Schedule CG has been split into four clean sub-sections:
- 112A: Equity LTCG (above ₹1.25 lakh exempt)
- 111A: Equity STCG (15% flat)
- 112: Debt and other LTCG (12.5% without indexation post-July-2024)
- Other: Property, gold, unlisted shares
Each sub-section has its own grandfathering toggle for pre-Jan 2018 equity holdings (cost basis as of January 31, 2018).
Change 4: Stricter HRA validation
If you claim HRA above ₹1 lakh/year, the portal now requires:
- Landlord PAN (mandatory if rent exceeds ₹50,000/month)
- Rent agreement upload (PDF, max 2MB)
- Bank transfer receipts for at least 6 months
Cash-rent claims will trigger a Section 142(1) notice in 90% of cases this year. The department's risk engine flags any claim without bank-trail evidence.
Change 5: Mandatory OTP-based login
Username + password is gone. Every login now requires:
- Aadhaar OTP, OR
- Net banking authentication, OR
- DSC (Digital Signature Certificate, for businesses)
Update your Aadhaar-registered mobile number before filing. If your number changed, update via UIDAI before July 1.
Common error codes and fixes
E110 (Mismatch in TDS credits): Your Form 26AS shows different TDS than what you've claimed. Open 26AS, match challan-by-challan with your ITR. Usually a deductor reporting delay — wait 7 days and try again.
E102 (Pre-fill data unverified): You modified a pre-filled field without ticking the "I agree this is correct" checkbox. Re-open the section, restore the pre-filled value or add a remark, then validate.
E045 (Aadhaar not linked): PAN-Aadhaar linking expired. Pay ₹1,000 fine on the portal, link, and retry after 24 hours.
E215 (Bank account not pre-validated): Your refund bank account isn't pre-validated. Go to Profile → Bank Accounts → Pre-Validate, complete the IFSC + account number check, retry.
Filing window
- July 1 - July 31: regular filing, no late fee
- August 1 - December 31: late filing with ₹1,000-5,000 fee (Section 234F)
- December 31, 2026: last date for belated returns
Bottom line
File in July if you can. Pre-fill is now strong enough that most salaried filers can complete ITR-1 in 15 minutes. Verify every number, e-verify immediately, and keep PDF copies of your filed return and acknowledgement.