The four resident-individual forms
| Form | Fits | Income profile | Pushes you out |
|---|---|---|---|
| ITR-1 (Sahaj) | Resident salaried or pensioner | Salary/pension, at most one house property, other slab-rate income up to ₹50 lakh | Total income over ₹50 lakh, more than one house property, real capital gains (small section 112A gains up to ₹1.25 lakh are fine), carry-forward losses, foreign income or assets, NRI status, company director, unlisted shares |
| ITR-2 | Everyone without business income | Salary, several house properties, capital gains, foreign assets or income, directorships, any total income | Business or professional income — that requires ITR-3 or ITR-4 on top |
| ITR-3 | Regular-books business or profession | Everything ITR-2 holds plus business income from complete books of account | None within resident/similar scope; presumptive filers under 44AD/44ADA/44AE commonly prefer ITR-4 instead |
| ITR-4 (Sugam) | Presumptive taxation | Business or profession under sections 44AD, 44ADA, 44AE with the ITR-1 income profile around it | Total income over ₹50 lakh, foreign scope, carry-forward losses, directorship, unlisted shares, real capital gains (small 112A gains up to ₹1.25 lakh are fine) |
Two upgrades changed the map in recent years. ITR-1 and ITR-4 now accept long-term listed-equity gains under section 112A up to ₹1.25 lakh — the ₹1,25,000 exempt floor — so those gains alone no longer force ITR-2. And ITR-4 is now the single presumptive form, after the separate ITR-4S was folded into it for one-time cases.
Form finder
Tick everything that applied to you during the year and the mapping matches ITR-1 through ITR-4. One-shot and instant: nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
Form finder
Tick everything that applies to your income this year.
Suggested form: ITR-1
Salary or pension, one house property and other slab-rate income, within eligibility, is the classic ITR-1 (Sahaj) profile.
A mapping is not filling advice: check the ITR instructions for the assessment year, and for the details (reliefs, TDS, carry-forward).
How the mapping reads
The rules layer up, not across. Business income on regular books anchors ITR-3 no matter what else is present. Presumptive business anchors ITR-4 — but it inherits every ITR-1 disqualifier, so a presumptive trader with carry-forward losses or foreign assets falls back to ITR-2 rather than bending ITR-4. Everyone else starts at ITR-1 and moves to ITR-2 on the first disqualifier the form meets.
A salaried person who sold mutual funds this year, a landlord with two rented flats, and a director of a private company all land on ITR-2, for entirely different reasons — capital gains, more than one house property, and directorship respectively.
Matching the form with the numbers
- Settle the regime and the slab-rate tax first — the income tax calculator computes both regimes on your actual numbers.
- List every income head for the year: salary, house properties, interest, gains, business turnover.
- Check each disqualifier in the table above against that list; the first hit decides your form.
- Watch the ₹50 lakh line: total income is the figure that counts, not gross salary.
- Confirm once more against the official ITR instructions for your assessment year before submitting.
Frequently asked questions
Who can file ITR-1 (Sahaj)?
A resident individual with salary or pension, income from at most one house property, and other income such as interest and dividends, with total income up to ₹50 lakh and no losses to carry forward. Since AY 2025-26, long-term listed-equity gains under section 112A up to ₹1.25 lakh no longer disqualify ITR-1.
When does ITR-1 stop covering me?
One of the disqualifiers: non-resident status, foreign assets or income, total income above ₹50 lakh, more than one house property, capital gains beyond the small 112A exemption, directorship, unlisted shares, or losses to carry forward. ITR-2 keeps every one of these open — it is the form for salary-plus-gains profiles and the natural fallback out of ITR-1.
Does a home-loan interest claim send me to ITR-2?
No. Deduction on home-loan interest for a single self-occupied house belongs to the one house-property head, which ITR-1 covers directly. Two house properties, or a let-out property alongside the first, push you to ITR-2.
What is the difference between ITR-3 and ITR-4?
Both carry business income. ITR-3 is for regular books of account, and anything that also needs ITR-2 features — capital gains, foreign assets, directorships. ITR-4 (Sugam) is for presumptive income under sections 44AD, 44ADA or 44AE, where profit is presumed at a statutory share of turnover — but it inherits ITR-1's disqualifiers on top.
Is total income the deciding number for the ₹50 lakh line?
Yes — the ₹50 lakh line is total income for the assessment year, which is what remains after the standard deduction, exemptions and Chapter VI-A deductions are applied, not the gross salary figure. A ₹55 lakh gross salary with ₹8 lakh of deductions can still sit under the line; the calculation decides, not the payslip.
My salaried income alone sits under ITR-1 — is filing optional?
The form is decided by the profile, but whether you file at all is decided by separate triggers: total income above the basic exemption limit, TDS that you want refunded, large deposit or credit-card transactions, and other reporting conditions the Income Tax Department publishes each year. When filing is required, the form that fits the income profile — from the table above — is the one to use.