If your company is registered under the Companies Act, 2013 (or the earlier 1956 Act) and does not claim exemption under Section 11, you file your income tax return using ITR-6. For Assessment Year 2026-27 (income earned in FY 2025-26), the due date is 31st October 2026 for companies whose accounts require audit, or 30th November 2026 if the company also has international or specified domestic transactions requiring a transfer pricing report (Form 3CEB). ITR-6 must be filed online and verified using a Digital Signature Certificate — there is no paper filing option and no EVC-based verification for companies.
That's the direct answer. Everything below covers exactly who this applies to, what you need before you start, the filing process step by step, and where companies most often go wrong.
ITR-6 is the income tax return form for companies that do not claim exemption under Section 11 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 — the exemption available to income from property held for charitable or religious purposes. In plain terms: if you run a private limited company, a public limited company, a One Person Company (OPC), or a foreign company with taxable presence in India, and you are not a registered charitable trust, ITR-6 is your form.
It applies to both domestic and foreign companies as defined under Section 2(17) of the Act — any Indian company incorporated under the Companies Act, and any body corporate incorporated under the law of a country outside India that has income accruing or arising in India.
ITR-6 is an annexure-less return. You don't attach financial statements, audit reports, or TDS certificates when you file it online, but you're required to have all of them ready and reconciled, because the department cross-checks your figures against Form 26AS, the Annual Information Statement (AIS), and, where applicable, the tax audit report filed separately under Section 44AB.
If you're unsure whether your entity structure needs ITR-6 or a different form, our income tax return filing team can confirm this before you start — filing the wrong form entirely can't be fixed by a revision, only by a fresh filing within the original deadline.
A company's accounts almost always require a tax audit once turnover crosses the Section 44AB threshold, and most private and public limited companies are also required to get their books audited under the Companies Act, 2013 regardless of turnover — so in practice, the great majority of companies work to the 31 October deadline. If your company transacts with associated enterprises, whether cross-border or specified domestic transactions covered under Section 92E, you need Form 3CEB furnished before the return, and your deadline moves to 30 November 2026.
Missing both dates doesn't lock you out — a belated return under Section 139(4) can still be filed by 31 December 2026, though it comes with consequences covered below. For AY 2026-27, the window to file a revised return has been extended to 31 March 2027.
Since ITR-6 is annexure-less, you're not uploading these files with the return, but you need every one finalised and reconciled before you start, because the numbers you type in have to match what's on record elsewhere:
If you'd rather have someone handle the schedules, MAT computation, and reconciliation — where most self-filed errors happen — our ITR-6 return filing service takes the company through the full filing with a CA reviewing the computation before submission.
Filing directly through the e-filing portal has no government fee. What you're actually paying for, when you engage a professional, is the accounting and computation work behind it — reconciling books, computing MAT correctly, applying the right depreciation schedules, and reviewing the tax audit report against the return before it's signed off. In our experience over the past 10 years working with companies on ITR-6 filings, the cost of a badly prepared return — an incorrect MAT computation, a missed schedule, a defective-return notice that eats weeks of back-and-forth — tends to be far higher than the fee for getting it done correctly the first time. Exact fees depend on the complexity of the company's accounts and whether tax audit and transfer pricing work are bundled in, so we quote based on the actual filing rather than a flat number here.
This is where a lot of companies overpay without realising it, because the return doesn't automatically pick the lowest legally available rate — the company has to elect it.
A 4% Health and Education Cess applies on top of whichever rate applies, plus surcharge once income crosses ₹1 crore (rates vary by slab and by regime).
Minimum Alternate Tax, under Section 115JB, exists because a company can legitimately reduce its taxable income to near zero through deductions and exemptions while still reporting healthy profit in its books. MAT requires the company to pay tax at 15% of book profit (plus surcharge and cess) whenever that amount is higher than the tax computed under the normal provisions.
Book profit isn't the same number as taxable income — it starts from net profit as per the profit and loss account under Schedule III of the Companies Act, then gets adjusted for specific additions and deductions listed in Section 115JB. This is why ITR-6 has a dedicated MAT schedule separate from the main business income computation.
MAT does not apply if the company has opted for Section 115BAA or 115BAB — lower headline rate, no MAT exposure, but also no MAT credit carry-forward, since there's nothing to carry forward. If you do pay MAT under the normal regime, the excess over normal tax becomes MAT credit, carried forward and set off against normal tax liability in a future year for up to 15 assessment years, tracked in Schedule MATC.
After 31 December 2026, a belated or revised return is no longer possible for FY 2025-26 — the only route left is an updated return (ITR-U) under Section 139(8A), which comes with additional tax ranging from 25% to 70% depending on how late it's filed, and it cannot be used to claim a refund or increase a loss.
Once verified, your ITR-6 goes through processing under Section 143(1), where the department's system checks it against Form 26AS, AIS, and the tax audit report data. Two outcomes are common:
Keep your acknowledgment, audit report, and financial statements accessible for at least the period the return can be reopened for scrutiny, since these are exactly what's needed to respond to either notice quickly.
Every point above is checked against the Income Tax Act provisions and the current AY 2026-27 due date notifications rather than carried over from an older year's article. In our experience filing ITR-6 for companies over the past 10 years, the defects and delays almost never come from not knowing the due date — they come from the MAT computation, the depreciation schedule mismatch, and the Form 3CEB timing being missed until it's too late to fix cleanly. If you want the filing itself handled rather than just the reference, our ITR-6 return filing service reviews the computation with a CA before it goes out.
This page provides general information for companies filing ITR-6 and isn't a substitute for advice specific to your company's facts. Tax positions on MAT elections, transfer pricing, and capital gains treatment should be confirmed with a chartered accountant before filing, since the right answer genuinely depends on your company's numbers.
Any company registered under the Companies Act, 2013 (or the 1956 Act), domestic or foreign, that does not claim exemption under Section 11. This includes private limited companies, public limited companies, and OPCs, regardless of whether they made a profit, a loss, or had no transactions at all in the year.
Technically yes, since the portal doesn't require a CA to be involved in submission. In practice, most private limited companies need a tax audit under Section 44AB or a statutory audit under the Companies Act, both requiring a CA, so the return usually goes through one anyway.
ITR-5 is for partnership firms, LLPs, AOPs, and BOIs. ITR-6 is exclusively for companies. The forms differ structurally because a company's computation includes provisions like MAT under Section 115JB that don't apply to LLPs, which face Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) under a separate section instead.
Yes. A company incorporated under the Companies Act has to file ITR-6 as a nil return even with no transactions, no revenue, and no tax payable. The filing obligation comes from incorporation status, not from having taxable income.
31 October 2026 for companies whose accounts require a tax audit, which covers most companies. It moves to 30 November 2026 if the company also has to file Form 3CEB for international or specified domestic transactions.
No. Verification of ITR-6 is only possible through a valid DSC of the authorised signatory. There's no Aadhaar OTP, net banking EVC, or physical ITR-V option for companies, unlike individual ITR forms.
It depends on turnover and the thresholds under Section 44AB. Most operating companies cross these thresholds and need a tax audit, but a small or newly incorporated company with turnover well below the limit may not. Separately, most companies still need a statutory audit under the Companies Act regardless of the tax audit threshold.
Form 3CEB is the transfer pricing report required under Section 92E when a company transacts with associated enterprises, whether international or specified domestic transactions above the prescribed threshold. If applicable, it must be furnished before the ITR-6 due date, which is extended to 30 November for these companies specifically.
Yes, as long as it remains incorporated and hasn't formally wound up or been struck off. A dormant status under Section 455 of the Companies Act reduces certain compliance requirements but does not remove the ITR-6 filing obligation.
Beyond the Section 234F late fee and Section 234A interest that apply to a belated filing, missing even the belated return window forces the company into filing an ITR-U under Section 139(8A) instead, with additional tax of 25% to 70% depending on how late it's filed, and loss of the right to claim any refund or carry forward a loss.
Yes, a revised return under Section 139(5) is allowed for a genuine error or omission. For AY 2026-27, the revision window has been extended to 31 March 2027. Revision only works if you filed the correct form originally — if you filed the wrong ITR form entirely, you'd need a fresh original filing before the original due date.
A notice the department issues when your filed ITR-6 has missing mandatory information, internal figures that don't tally, or an audit report that doesn't match what's declared. You typically get 15 days to fix and resubmit; if you don't respond in time, the return is treated as if it was never filed, bringing back late-filing penalties and interest.
Yes, and filing on time matters more here, not less, because business and capital losses can only be carried forward to offset future profits if the return is filed by the original due date. A late-filed loss return loses that carry-forward right.
When a company pays tax under MAT (Section 115JB) because its book-profit-based tax exceeds normal tax liability, the difference becomes MAT credit, claimable in a future year when normal tax exceeds MAT. It's carried forward for up to 15 assessment years and tracked through Schedule MATC; missing this schedule means losing the credit for that year.
Not all ~40 schedules apply to every company. A straightforward business would typically need the general information part, Schedule BP for business income, depreciation schedules (DPM/DOA), Schedule CG if there were capital transactions, Schedule OS for other income, Schedule MAT/MATC if MAT applies, and the TDS/TCS reconciliation schedules.
Yes, if it has income accruing or arising in India and doesn't claim Section 11 exemption. Foreign companies are taxed at a higher headline rate — 35%, with royalties and fees for technical services taxed separately at 50% — and go through the same ITR-6 form, though certain schedules specific to foreign companies apply.
Under the old regime, a company pays 25% or 30% depending on turnover, can claim various deductions and exemptions, and is subject to MAT if applicable. Under Section 115BAA, the rate drops to about 22% (roughly 25.17% effective with surcharge and cess), but the company gives up most deductions and exemptions, and MAT stops applying entirely. Once elected, it can't be reversed.
No. LLPs file ITR-5, the same form used by partnership firms, AOPs, and BOIs. ITR-6 is reserved for companies incorporated under the Companies Act.
The Finance Act, 2024 changed capital gains tax rates and holding-period rules effective 23 July 2024. Since FY 2025-26 falls entirely after that date, this split mostly matters for companies reporting gains on assets sold in earlier periods, or where comparative figures are needed; the schedule keeps pre- and post-amendment gains distinctly reportable.
No. ITR-6 must be filed electronically through the e-filing portal and verified with a DSC. There is no offline filing option for companies, unlike some categories of individual taxpayers who retain limited paper-filing options in specific circumstances.
Primarily Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) for TDS/TCS and reported financial transactions, the separately filed tax audit report (Form 3CD) for figures like turnover and depreciation, and Form 3CEB where transfer pricing applies. Mismatches in any of these are the most common trigger for a processing adjustment or a defective return notice.
Reconcile Form 26AS/AIS, the tax audit report, and your MAT computation against the return before submission, not after. Most defective notices trace back to one of these three not matching what's entered in the schedules — exactly why a CA review before filing catches what a self-filed return often misses.