Got A Message From Income Tax Reminder Before the ITR Deadline? Here’s Why the Tax Department Is Sending Nudge

Income Tax Return Deadline Alert: With less than a week left to file the revised or belated Income Tax Return (ITR) for the assessment year (AY 2025-26), the Income Tax department is encouraging taxpayers to review deduction and exemption claims voluntarily.

Some taxpayers are getting intimations from the tax department to review their ITR filings and other details, reported The Times of India. The development has come as the I-T department is running a data-driven NUDGE campaign for AY 2025-26.

What is the I-T Department's NUDGE Campaign?

As per the Income Tax Department's NUDGE campaign, taxpayers are identified and are requested through SMS and email under the "Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable (NUDGE)" campaign to correct errors like deduction and exemption claims. These errors are identified as potentially ineligible through risk analytics.

The campaign aims to encourage taxpayers to review their ITR forms and eliminate the scope of errors and rejections. The due date for filing revised ITRs the 31 December.

Over 15 lakh ITRs have Been Revised for the Current Assesment Year

For the current assessment year, nearly 15 lakh ITRs have been revised, and over 21 lakh taxpayers have already updated their ITRs for AY 2021-22 to 2024-25. With these updated ITRs, people have paid more than Rs 2,500 crore in taxes.

Why Is Income Tax Department Contacting Taxpayers Ahead of ITR Deadline?

The I-T department on Tuesday clarified that certain taxpayers have been identified to have claimed ineligible refunds by availing deductions or exemptions to which they are not entitled, as per an Indian Express report. These exemptions and deductions availment have resulted in understatement of income.

The I-T Department has contacted such taxpayers through SMS and email under the NUDGE campaign, and they have been asked to rectify the errors and file revised returns by December 31.

What is a Revised/Belated ITR Return?

When a taxpayer discovers any error or wrong statement in filing the original Income Tax Return (ITR) submitted earlier. The same can be corrected by filing a revised return in the e-Filing portal. As per the IT department, the revised return can be filed at any time before the end of the relevant assessment year (AY) or before its completion.

As per the Income Tax Department, all the taxpayers who have received an alert for filing revised ITR are required to complete the task before 31 December.