Is ITR Filing Mandatory? Section 139(1) Conditions for AY 2026-27

A company or LLP must file even with a loss and no income. An individual can be required to file even below the exemption limit because of a small number of prescribed high-value transactions. Neither situation is exempted just because no tax is ultimately payable.

Reviewed by CA Nikhil Gupta · Last reviewed 7 Aug 2026 · Reflects Section 139(1) conditions for AY 2026-27, under the Income-tax Act, 1961

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Who must file independently of the income test

These categories must file a return regardless of income level or tax payable:

• Every company, and every partnership firm or LLP — even with a loss and no income
• Specified trusts, institutions, political parties and other statutory filers
• A resident and ordinarily resident individual with a prescribed foreign asset, financial interest abroad, or signing authority over a foreign account
• Anyone required to file under a specific notice or proceeding

The income threshold test

For an individual who isn't a company or firm, filing is mandatory if total income — computed before claiming exemptions and Chapter VI-A deductions — exceeds the basic exemption limit applicable to their age, residency status and chosen tax regime. This is a common error: filing is not judged on "tax payable after rebate," but on gross total income before the deductions that might reduce it to zero.

Seven prescribed high-value conditions that force filing anyway

Even where total income is below the exemption limit, filing becomes mandatory if any one of these conditions is met during the year:

Add up amounts across all relevant accounts and payments — the test applies to the aggregate, not to any single bank or card.

Worked example

A salaried individual has taxable salary of ₹3.8 lakh — below the basic exemption limit under the default regime, so on income alone no return would be needed. During the year, though, she deposited ₹55 lakh in aggregate across two savings bank accounts (funds from a property sale routed through her account before reinvestment) and spent ₹2.4 lakh on foreign travel for a family trip. Both figures cross prescribed thresholds (₹50 lakh savings-deposit aggregate and ₹2 lakh foreign-travel spend) independently of her income level, so filing is mandatory for her this year even though no tax is ultimately payable once her actual taxable income is computed.

The foreign-asset trigger

A resident and ordinarily resident individual can have a mandatory filing obligation purely because of a foreign bank account, foreign shares or other financial interest, an overseas ESOP, foreign immovable property, signing authority over a foreign account, or beneficial ownership of a foreign asset — even if that asset generated no income during the year. Confirm your residential status first using the residential status checker, since this obligation applies only to residents who are also "ordinarily resident."

Three myths that lead to missed filings

Conditional relief for very senior citizens — Section 194P

A resident individual aged 75 or above can be relieved of the filing obligation, but only where all of these hold: pension is received from a specified bank, the only other income is interest from an account at that same bank, a declaration in the prescribed form is furnished to the bank, and the bank itself computes the deduction, rebate and final tax. This is a narrow, conditional relief — not a blanket "75-plus need not file" rule.

What to do once you've confirmed filing is mandatory

Next, use the ITR form selector to identify the correct form, and check ITR filing AY 2026-27 due dates for your applicable deadline by category. If your due date has already passed, see belated, revised and updated returns for your remaining options.