Sahaj Form for Salaried Individuals - Simple & Fast Filing
Form 26AS Reconciliation. Old vs New Regime Comparison. e-Verification Support. Starting at ₹499 ComplianceBharo professional fee for end-to-end assistance. Government/statutory fees are charged separately at actuals.
ITR-1, officially called Sahaj, is the simplest of the seven income tax return forms notified by the CBDT. It's built specifically for resident individuals whose income comes from a small, well-defined set of sources — salary or pension, at most one house property, and other straightforward sources like bank interest — with no business activity, capital gains, or foreign income involved.
The name itself is a clue to its purpose: "Sahaj"means "easy" or "simple", and the form is deliberately designed around that idea. Where forms like ITR-3 or ITR-6 run to dozens of schedules covering business income, depreciation, and audit disclosures, ITR-1 strips the return down to only what a salaried taxpayer actually needs to report — making it the fastest form to complete correctly, provided your income profile genuinely fits within its narrow scope.
That narrow scope is also ITR-1's defining limitation. The moment your income involves capital gains, a second house property, business income, or crosses ₹50 lakh in a year, the form is no longer available to you — the trade-off for its simplicity is a strict eligibility boundary, covered in detail below.
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Governing Rule | Rule 12 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, read with Section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, as notified annually by the CBDT |
| Applicable To | Resident individuals (Ordinarily Resident), not Hindu Undivided Families, with total income up to ₹50 lakh from salary/pension, one house property, and other specified sources |
| Not Applicable To | Non-residents and RNORs, taxpayers with capital gains or business/professional income, more than one house property, or total income above ₹50 lakh — these must use ITR-2, ITR-3, or ITR-4 |
| Verification Modes | Aadhaar OTP, net banking, or a Digital Signature Certificate — the widest range of verification options among all ITR forms |
| Form Complexity | The shortest and simplest of the seven ITR forms, built around a small number of schedules for salary, one house property, and other-source income |
| Filing Mode | 100% online through the income tax e-filing portal, with most fields pre-filled from Form 16, Form 26AS, and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) |
ITR-1 consolidates salary, one house property, and other-source income into a handful of straightforward schedules, avoiding the dozens of schedules found in the business and company forms.
Salary details, TDS, interest income, and other reported transactions are pulled in automatically from Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement, cutting down manual entry.
Because the form carries far fewer schedules and cross-checks than the other ITR forms, accurately filed ITR-1 returns tend to move through processing more quickly.
There's no Profit & Loss account, balance sheet, or capital gains schedule to populate — ITR-1 is built specifically for taxpayers without these income streams.
The return is prepared and submitted entirely on the e-filing portal, with no physical paperwork required at any stage of the process.
Aadhaar OTP, net banking login, or a Digital Signature Certificate are all available to complete verification, giving individual taxpayers more flexibility than company or LLP filers get.
Every condition below has to hold true at the same time — ITR-1 eligibility isn't a matter of meeting most of them, it's all or nothing.
| Condition | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Residential Status | Resident Individual (Ordinarily Resident) only — not a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), and not a Non-Resident or Resident but Not Ordinarily Resident (RNOR) |
| Total Income | Up to ₹50 lakh in the financial year, computed before claiming Chapter VI-A deductions |
| Income Sources | Salary or pension, income from one house property (excluding cases carrying forward a loss from an earlier year), and income from other sources such as savings/FD interest or family pension |
| Agricultural Income | Permitted only up to ₹5,000 in the year — agricultural income above this threshold takes the taxpayer outside ITR-1 eligibility entirely |
Beyond eligibility, a handful of practical prerequisites need to be in place before an ITR-1 filing can actually go through.
ComplianceBharo's ITR-1 filing package starts at ₹499 as a professional fee for end-to-end assistance, covering everything from eligibility verification through to e-verification and refund tracking — the full inclusion list is shown in the pricing card above.
Because ITR-1 is scoped to a single, well-defined income profile, pricing for a genuine ITR-1 case stays close to this starting point. If, during review, your income turns out to include capital gains, more than one house property, or business income — meaning ITR-1 no longer applies — we\'ll flag it and quote separately for the correct form (ITR-2, ITR-3, or ITR-4) rather than filing an ineligible return.
Most ITR-1 filings need only a short list of documents — here's what to have ready.
| Document | Why It's Needed |
|---|---|
| Form 16 | Issued by your employer, this consolidates gross salary, exemptions, and tax deducted at source for the financial year — the primary source document for salary income |
| Form 26AS & AIS | The tax credit statement and Annual Information Statement, used to reconcile TDS, interest income, and other reported transactions against what you're declaring |
| Bank Account Details | Your active, pre-validated bank account number and IFSC code, needed for any refund to be credited |
| Interest Certificates | Savings account and fixed deposit interest certificates from your bank, where such interest income applies and isn't already fully captured in Form 26AS |
| Rent Receipts | Needed if you're claiming HRA exemption and it isn't already fully reflected in your Form 16 |
| Investment Proofs | Proofs for deductions under Section 80C, 80D, and similar provisions, where these investments aren't already accounted for in your Form 16 |
Gather Form 16 from your employer along with bank interest certificates, rent receipts, and investment proofs for any deductions you plan to claim.
Cross-check the salary, TDS, and interest figures in Form 16 against Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement, flagging any mismatch before it becomes a notice.
Compare your tax liability under both regimes, factoring in the deductions and exemptions you're eligible for, and select whichever works out lower for the year.
Populate salary, house property, and other-source income into the form, and claim eligible deductions under Chapter VI-A where the old regime is chosen.
Check the computed tax payable or refundable figure for accuracy against your own calculations before submitting the return on the e-filing portal.
Complete verification via Aadhaar OTP, net banking, or DSC within 30 days of filing — a return that isn't verified in time is treated as though it was never filed.
Since salaried and pension income doesn't require an audit, ITR-1 taxpayers work to the earliest of the ITR due dates.
| Compliance Requirement | Applicable Date / Rate | Details |
|---|---|---|
| ITR-1 Filing — Standard Due Date | 31 July of the assessment year | Applies to individual taxpayers, since salaried and pension income does not require any audit under Section 44AB |
| Belated Return | 31 December of the assessment year | Filed under Section 139(4) after missing the original due date; still allowed, but subject to a late fee under Section 234F |
| Late Filing Fee — Section 234F | ₹1,000 where total income is up to ₹5 lakh; ₹5,000 where it exceeds ₹5 lakh | Levied automatically the moment a belated return is filed after 31 July but before 31 December |
| Interest for Late Filing — Section 234A | 1% per month or part thereof | Charged on any unpaid tax from the original due date until the date the return is actually filed |
| e-Verification Deadline | Within 30 days of filing | A return that isn't e-verified within this window is treated in law as though it was never filed, regardless of when it was originally submitted |
Have questions about filing your ITR-1? Let our experts confirm your eligibility and get your return filed quickly.
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