Section 139 - Filing of Income Tax Return
Mandatory and voluntary filing of income tax returns. Specifies who must file, deadlines, and provisions for belated and revised returns.
Key provisions
- 139(1): Mandatory filing if income exceeds basic exemption / meets other triggers (foreign travel ₹2L+, electricity bill ₹1L+, etc.)
- 139(4): Belated return - can be filed up to December 31 of assessment year with penalty
- 139(5): Revised return - can be filed up to December 31 of assessment year
- 139(8A): Updated return (ITR-U) - can file within 2 years with 25-50% additional tax
- 139(9): Defective return notice if filed with incomplete information
- Late filing fee: ₹5,000 (₹1,000 if income below ₹5 lakh)
FAQs
July 31, 2027 for individuals and HUFs not requiring tax audit. October 31, 2027 for businesses requiring tax audit. November 30, 2027 for cases with international transactions (transfer pricing). Note: the CBDT often extends these deadlines.
Use via API
GET/v1/tax-law/sections/by-2025-ref/263
Programmatic access - free, no signup required. ISR-cached for 24 hours.
REQUEST · cURL
curl https://api.thynktax.com/v1/tax-law/sections/by-2025-ref/263
RESPONSE · 200 OK
{
"act_2025_ref": "263",
"old_reference": "Section 139, Income Tax Act 1961",
"title": "Section 139 - Filing of Income Tax Return",
"category": "Procedural",
"limit_or_rate": "Deadline: July 31 (individuals/HUF); October 31 (tax audit cases); November 30 (TP cases)",
"applicable_to": "All assessees",
"effective_from": "2026-04-01"
}