The Income Tax Department has recently sent SMS and email alerts to several taxpayers, stating that their income tax refund has been put on hold under a risk management provision amid a mismatch in income tax return (ITR) filing details.
The department has also directed these taxpayers to submit a revised income tax return by 31 December. This has led to confusion among taxpayers online and raised concerns, one of which is about who is required to file the revised ITR.
Who needs to file a revised return?
The alerts issued by the I-T Department are part of a new data-driven NUDGE campaign that highlights incorrect deduction or exemption claims.
“It has been observed that certain taxpayers have claimed ineligible refunds by availing deductions or exemptions to which they are not entitled, resulting in understatement of income,” the I-T Department said in a release on Tuesday, 23 December.
Within the risk management framework, the department has identified such cases for Assessment Year (AY) 2025-26.
This included cases where false donations to Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs) and other ineligible deductions or exemptions seem to have been claimed in ITRs.
It has also been noted that, in some instances, taxpayers have provided either incorrect or invalid PAN details. Additionally, some cases include errors related to the amount of deduction or exemption claimed.
Such “identified taxpayers are being requested through SMS and email under the ‘Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable (NUDGE)’ campaign to correct such errors, in view of the due date for filing revised ITRs by 31 December 2025”, the release noted.
However, taxpayers with accurate deduction or exemption claims are exempted from further action.
“Taxpayers whose deduction or exemption claims are genuine and correctly made in accordance with law are not required to take any further action,” the department said.
What must concerned taxpayers do?
The I-T Department further noted, “It is advised that the concerned taxpayers review their ITRs, verify the correctness of their deduction and exemption claims, and revise their returns, if required, within the prescribed time by 31 December 2025, so as to avoid further enquiries in the matter.”
What will happen if you miss the 31 December deadline?
Taxpayers can file updated returns from 1 January 2026 if they miss the current deadline, but must pay any additional tax liability.
“It is clarified that taxpayers who do not avail of this opportunity may still file an updated return from 1 January 2026, as permitted under law, subject to payment of additional tax liability,” the I-T Department said.
How many revised ITRs have been filed so far?
According to the Income Tax Department, in FY 2025-26, over 21 lakh taxpayers have updated their ITRs for AYS 2021-22 to 2024-25 and paid more than ₹2,500 crore in taxes. Additionally, more than 15 lakh ITRs have already been revised for the current assessment year, AY 2025-26.
