{"act":{"id":"finance-act-2026","short_title":"The Finance Act, 2026","long_title":"An Act to give effect to the financial proposals of the Central Government for the financial year 2026-2027.","act_number":"4","act_year":2026,"enact_date":null,"enforcement_date":null,"ministry":"Ministry of Finance","department":"Department of Revenue","jurisdiction":"CENTRAL","unit":"section","section_count":167,"in_force":true,"spent":false,"spent_note":null,"duplicate_of":null,"text_source":"published","scan_url":null,"url":"https://indiacode.ecourtsindia.com/finance-act-2026/"},"unit":"section","section":{"number":"5","heading":"Amendment of section 139","text":"Amendment of section 139. 5. In section 139 of the Income-tax Act, with effect from the 1st day of March, 2026,— (a) | in sub-section (1), for Explanation 2, the following Explanation shall be substituted and shall be deemed to have been substituted, namely:— 'Explanation 2.—For the purposes of this sub-section, \"due date\" in respect of the persons mentioned in column B of the Table below, subject to the conditions as mentioned in column C of the said Table, shall be the due date of assessment year as mentioned in column D thereof:— TABLE Sl. No. | Person | Conditions | Due date A | B | C | D 1. | Assessee, including the partners of the firm or the spouse of such partner (if section 5A applies to such spouse). | Where the provisions of section 92E apply. | 30th November. 2. | (i) | Company; (ii) | Assessee (other than a company) whose accounts are required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force; (iii) | partner of a firm whose accounts are required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force or the spouse of such partner (if section 5A applies to such spouse). | Where the provisions of section 92E do not apply. | 31st October. 3. | (i) | Assessee having income from profits and gains of business or profession whose accounts are not required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force; (ii) | partner of a firm whose accounts are not required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force or the spouse of such partner (if section 5A applies to such spouse). | Where the provisions of section 92E do not apply. | 31st August 4. | Any other assessee. | 31st July. (b) | for sub-section (5), the following sub-section shall be substituted and shall be deemed to have been substituted, namely:— \"(5) If any person, having furnished a return under sub-section (1) or sub-section (4), discovers any omission or any wrong statement therein, he may, subject to the provisions of section 234-I, furnish a revised return at any time before the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of the assessment, whichever is earlier.\"; (c) | in sub-section (8A),— (i) | in the first proviso, in item (i), after the words \"return of a loss\", the words \"except in a case referred to in the sixth proviso\" shall be inserted; (ii) | in the third proviso, in item (b), after the words \"in his case\", the words \"except in a case referred to in the eighth proviso\" shall be inserted; (iii) | in the sixth proviso, after the words \"return of income\", the words \"or such updated return has the effect of reducing the loss\" shall be inserted; (iv) | after the seventh proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:— \"Provided also that an updated return may be furnished by a person for the relevant assessment year in pursuance of a notice under section 148 within such period as specified in the said notice and in such a case, the assessee shall be precluded from filing return in pursuance of the said notice in any other manner.\".","html":"

Amendment of section 139.

5. In section 139 of the Income-tax Act, with effect from the 1st day of March, 2026,—

(a)in sub-section (1), for Explanation 2, the following Explanation shall be substituted and shall be deemed to have been substituted, namely:—
'Explanation 2.—For the purposes of this sub-section, \"due date\" in respect of the persons mentioned in column B of the Table below, subject to the conditions as mentioned in column C of the said Table, shall be the due date of assessment year as mentioned in column D thereof:—

TABLE

Sl. No.PersonConditionsDue date
ABCD
1.Assessee, including the partners of the firm or the spouse of such partner (if section 5A applies to such spouse).Where the provisions of section 92E apply.30th November.
2.
(i)Company;
(ii)Assessee (other than a company) whose accounts are required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force;
(iii)partner of a firm whose accounts are required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force or the spouse of such partner (if section 5A applies to such spouse).
Where the provisions of section 92E do not apply.31st October.
3.
(i)Assessee having income from profits and gains of business or profession whose accounts are not required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force;
(ii)partner of a firm whose accounts are not required to be audited under this Act or under any other law for the time being in force or the spouse of such partner (if section 5A applies to such spouse).
Where the provisions of section 92E do not apply.31st August
4.Any other assessee.31st July.
(b)for sub-section (5), the following sub-section shall be substituted and shall be deemed to have been substituted, namely:—
\"(5) If any person, having furnished a return under sub-section (1) or sub-section (4), discovers any omission or any wrong statement therein, he may, subject to the provisions of section 234-I, furnish a revised return at any time before the end of the relevant assessment year or before the completion of the assessment, whichever is earlier.\";
(c)in sub-section (8A),—
(i)in the first proviso, in item (i), after the words \"return of a loss\", the words \"except in a case referred to in the sixth proviso\" shall be inserted;
(ii)in the third proviso, in item (b), after the words \"in his case\", the words \"except in a case referred to in the eighth proviso\" shall be inserted;
(iii)in the sixth proviso, after the words \"return of income\", the words \"or such updated return has the effect of reducing the loss\" shall be inserted;
(iv)after the seventh proviso, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—
\"Provided also that an updated return may be furnished by a person for the relevant assessment year in pursuance of a notice under section 148 within such period as specified in the said notice and in such a case, the assessee shall be precluded from filing return in pursuance of the said notice in any other manner.\".
","words":568,"text_source":"published"},"classification":[],"instruments":[],"judgments":[],"corresponds_to":[],"url":"https://indiacode.ecourtsindia.com/finance-act-2026/section/5/","note":null,"source_note":"Harvested from the Income Tax Department's own portal at incometaxindia.gov.in, which publishes the Finance Acts section by section. India Code carries none of them: its Central community holds the Acts that stand as general law, and a Finance Act is an amending and rate-fixing instrument.","judgments_note":"Judgment holdings are the ratio decidendi as extracted from the order by eCourts India, reproduced unaltered. Reported judgments only.","licence":"Published with commentary and other original matter under s.52(1)(q)(ii), Copyright Act 1957."}