Common ITR Filing Mistakes That Delay Refunds or Trigger Notices

Most tax department notices aren't about anyone doing anything wrong on purpose. They're about small mismatches that a return didn't account for. Here's what actually causes the most trouble, in order of how often it happens.

Picking the wrong ITR form

ITR-1 doesn't cover capital gains or multiple properties. Filing under it anyway when you have either results in a defective return notice, requiring you to refile under the correct form within a given window. This is one of the most common and most avoidable mistakes, and it usually happens because someone used last year's form choice without checking whether their income situation changed.

Not reconciling with Form 26AS and AIS

The department already has a record of your TDS, interest, dividends, and several high-value transactions before you even open the filing portal. If the numbers you enter don't match what's already on file, that mismatch is exactly the kind of thing that gets flagged. Checking Form 26AS and AIS before filing, not after, catches most of these before they become a problem.

Forgetting income that doesn't come with a TDS certificate

Salary and typical FD interest usually come with clear paperwork. Interest from a savings account, small freelance payments, or gains from selling mutual fund units often don't arrive with the same reminder. None of that makes them non-taxable. Leaving out income because nobody sent you a form for it is still an omission from the department's point of view.

Choosing a regime without actually comparing both

Sticking with whatever regime was selected last year, or defaulting to whichever one the portal suggests first, without running the numbers both ways, routinely costs people money in either direction. This matters most for anyone with old-regime deductions already in place, 80C investments, HRA, or a home loan, since the "simpler" new regime doesn't account for any of that.

Submitting without verifying

A return that's submitted but not verified is treated as though it was never filed. This is an easy step to lose track of, especially with e-verification methods like Aadhaar OTP that expire quickly. Set a reminder to verify within the window rather than assuming submission was the finish line.

Bank account details that don't match

Refunds are credited directly to a bank account linked with your PAN and pre-validated on the portal. An account that isn't pre-validated, or one with a name mismatch against your PAN, is one of the more common reasons a refund gets stuck even after a return is processed correctly.

Missing the deadline, or assuming it's been extended

The government has extended filing deadlines in some years, but assuming an extension will happen again is a bad habit. Filing close to the actual deadline instead of assuming extra time exists avoids both late fees and the last-minute portal slowdowns that happen every year around the deadline.

This article is educational and not personalised financial advice. Filing procedures referenced here reflect the position as of FY 2025-26; always confirm current requirements on the official Income Tax Department website before filing.