Check your ITR form selection before filing — avoid the 15-day cure deadline
ITR-1 — who can use it: Resident individual — only salary/pension, one house property (self-occupied), other-source income ≤ ₹5,000 and agricultural income ≤ ₹5,000Not allowed: capital gains income; income from business or profession; presumptive business income under 44AD/44ADA/44AE; more than one house property; foreign assets / foreign income (Schedule FA); director in a company; unlisted equity shares; non-resident / RNOR status; total income above ₹50 lakh
These common defects cannot be detected from the yes/no screen. Check each item against your return before you submit.
Statutory basis: s.44AD(4)/(5) and s.44ADA(4) — where presumptive income is declared below the prescribed limit or turnover crosses the threshold, books of account become mandatory and the presumptive scheme ceases to apply
Fix: Maintain books of account and refile as ITR-3 with regular (non-presumptive) business income
Statutory basis: s.139(1) — the return must relate to the correct assessment year
Fix: Download the correct assessment-year utility from the income-tax portal and re-furnish the return
Statutory basis: CBDT e-filing instructions — bank-account pre-validation is mandatory for refund credit; missing refund-bank details is a commonly flagged defect
Fix: Pre-validate the bank account under 'My Profile' on the income-tax portal before filing
Statutory basis: s.199 read with s.205 — TDS credit is allowed only to the extent it matches Form 26AS; a mismatch beyond ₹100 is a flagged defect
Fix: Reconcile the TDS schedule with Form 26AS, ask the deductor to file a correction statement, or claim only the matched amount
Statutory basis: s.139(3) read with s.80 — a loss return must be furnished in time for the loss to be eligible for carry-forward and set-off
Fix: Carry forward the exact loss figures from the ITR-V of the earlier AY; losses not originally claimed in time cannot be brought forward
Statutory basis: s.80C — aggregate deduction under the section is capped at ₹1,50,000 per assessment year
Fix: Cap the s.80C claim at ₹1,50,000 and reallocate any excess
Statutory basis: s.192 read with Rule 26C — Form 12BB supports HRA and other salary-related deductions; a return inconsistent with the employer's TDS statement is a common defect
Fix: Verify the salary TDS in Form 26AS against Form 16 / Form 12BB before filing
A return that is substantially incomplete — wrong ITR form for the income earned, missing or inconsistent schedules (Schedule FA, TDS, loss brought forward), an assessment-year mismatch, or un-pre-validated bank details. Under s.139(9), the Assessing Officer may intimate the defect and ask you to rectify it; a defect that makes the return 'invalid' carries the same consequences as not having filed at all.
Fifteen days from the date of the s.139(9) intimation. The Assessing Officer can extend this period on an application made in that behalf, but the default cure window is 15 days.
The return is treated as an invalid return and the law applies as if you had failed to furnish the return. Practical consequences include the s.234F late-filing fee, s.234A interest on tax paid late, loss of the right to carry forward losses, and disallowance of Chapter VI-A deductions under s.80AC.
A revised return under s.139(5) can only be filed before the end of the relevant assessment year or before the assessment is completed, whichever is earlier — and the revised return must itself be a valid return. The safer path is to cure the specific defect flagged under s.139(9) within the 15-day window; filing a fresh corrected return for the same assessment year is the standard remedy.
File the correct ITR form for your income composition, pre-validate your bank account on the income-tax portal, reconcile TDS with Form 26AS, carry forward losses exactly as claimed in earlier returns, keep s.80C within ₹1,50,000, and complete every schedule the form asks for (including Schedule FA for foreign assets). This tool screens the most common structural traps before you submit.
