Income Tax Return Filing: Excel Utilities for ITR-1, ITR-4 Released, Check How To Use
The Excel utilities are offline tools that are provided to taxpayers to file income tax returns.
The Income Tax Department on Friday, May 30, announced the release of Excel utilities for ITR-1 (Sahaj) and ITR-4 (Sugam) for Assessment Year (AY) 2025–26.
"Attention taxpayers! The Excel Utility for ITR-1 and ITR-4 for AY 2025-26 has been enabled and is now available for taxpayers," read a post on the official X handle of the I-T Department.
This comes days after the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) extended the last date to file income tax returns (ITR) to Sep. 15, 2025, from the earlier deadline of Jul. 31, for taxpayers who don’t need their accounts to be audited.
In an official release, the I-T Department stated that the extension will grant more time to the taxpayers due to "significant revisions in ITR forms, system development needs, and TDS credit reflections."
The ITR forms were notified by the Income Tax Department late last month.
The latest version of ITR-1 and ITR-4 includes sections for taxpayers to disclose long-term capital gains (LTCG) of up to Rs 1.25 lakh from listed shares or mutual funds, provided they meet other eligibility criteria. Earlier, the taxpayers had to file the ITR-2 form for this.
Salaried individuals and small business owners, who are dealing with modest investments, can benefit from this move that streamlines the process. Notably, capital gains up to Rs 1.25 lakh are exempt from tax. Therefore, the revised criteria prevent unnecessary complexity for taxpayers with capital gains.
Steps to Download ITR-1 and ITR-4 Excel Utility
Visit the official website of the Income Tax Department at www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/.
On the homepage, select Downloads and then 2025-26 as Assessment Year
Select from ITR-1 and ITR-4 options available to download utilities
ITR-1 and ITR-4 Excel utilities: What to know?
These Excel utilities are basically offline tools that are provided to taxpayers to file their ITR.
They can use these Excel utilities to fill in details in the offline mode. Once filed, they are required to validate the same and generate a JSON file to submit on the Income Tax e-filing portal.
ITR-1 Excel utility can be used by resident individuals, with incomes up to Rs 50 lakh from salary, a single house property and interest income, in the financial year 2024-25. This also includes agricultural income of up to Rs 5,000.
On the other hand, ITR-4 is for individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and companies (except LLPs) that have income of up to Rs 50 lakh from business or profession under the presumptive taxation scheme.
