DEV Community: taxgarden

7 Common ITR Filing Mistakes That Could Cost You Your Tax Refund

taxgarden — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 07:31:36 +0000

Every year, thousands of taxpayers lose refunds or receive notices from the Income Tax Department—not because they intentionally did something wrong, but because of simple filing mistakes. The good news? Most of these errors are completely avoidable.

If you're filing your Income Tax Return (ITR) this year, make sure you don't make these seven common mistakes.

Choosing the Wrong ITR Form

Selecting the wrong ITR form is one of the most common mistakes.

For example:

ITR-1 is generally for individuals with salary and certain other simple income.
ITR-2 is used when you have capital gains, multiple house properties, or foreign assets.
ITR-3 is meant for business or professional income.

Using the wrong form may result in your return being treated as defective, requiring you to file a corrected return.

Tip: Understand your sources of income before selecting an ITR form.

Not Matching Form 26AS and AIS

Many taxpayers file their return using only Form 16.

However, banks, brokers, employers, and other institutions report your income directly to the Income Tax Department through Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS).

If your return doesn't match these records, you may receive a notice.

Always verify:

Salary
Bank interest
Dividend income
Capital gains
TDS deducted

Missing Eligible Deductions

People often forget deductions that could reduce their tax liability.

Common deductions include:

Section 80C
Section 80D
NPS contributions
Home loan interest
Donations under Section 80G

Review all available deductions before filing.

Not Reporting All Sources of Income

Some taxpayers report only salary income and forget about:

Savings account interest
Fixed Deposit interest
Dividend income
Rental income
Freelancing income
Capital gains

Even if tax has already been deducted, the income still needs to be reported.

Entering Incorrect Bank Account Details

Your refund is credited directly to your bank account.

If your account number or IFSC code is incorrect—or if the account isn't pre-validated—your refund may be delayed.

Double-check your banking details before submitting your return.

Waiting Until the Last Minute

Last-minute filing often leads to:

Missing documents
Incorrect information
Technical issues on the portal
Rushed decisions

Filing early gives you enough time to verify all information and correct any mistakes.

Forgetting to E-Verify Your Return

Submitting your ITR isn't the final step.

Your return must be e-verified within the prescribed time limit using:

Aadhaar OTP
Net Banking
Bank Account EVC
Digital Signature (where applicable)

Without e-verification, your return may be treated as not filed.

Final Thoughts

A few extra minutes spent reviewing your return can save you weeks of follow-up and help you receive your refund without unnecessary delays.

Before clicking "Submit," make sure you've:

Selected the correct ITR form
Verified Form 26AS and AIS
Claimed all eligible deductions
Reported every source of income
Checked your bank details
Filed before the deadline
Completed e-verification

Filing your ITR accurately isn't just about complying with tax laws—it's about ensuring you pay the right amount of tax and receive any refund you're entitled to.

Have you ever made one of these ITR filing mistakes? Share your experience in the comments—it might help someone else avoid the same issue

TDS on Tech Vendor Payments: What Indian Startups Need to Know in 2026

taxgarden — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:15:42 +0000

If your startup or tech company pays vendors, contractors, or cloud providers above threshold amounts, TDS obligations apply under the Income Tax Act.
Key TDS sections for tech businesses:

Section 194C: TDS at 1% (individual/HUF) or 2% (company) on contractor payments above Rs 30,000 per transaction or Rs 1 lakh per year
Section 194J: TDS at 10% on professional fees (software development, consulting, legal) above Rs 30,000
Section 194-O: TDS at 1% on e-commerce operator payments to sellers above Rs 5 lakh
Section 195: TDS on payments to non-resident foreign vendors (AWS, Google Cloud, Stripe) , rate depends on DTAA
Filing deadlines:

Deposit TDS by 7th of the following month
File TDS returns quarterly (Form 24Q / 26Q) by 31st of the month after quarter end
Missing TDS deposits attracts interest at 1.5% per month. Late TDS returns attract Rs 200/day penalty.

Tax Garden (https://taxgarden.in) handles TDS computation, deposit, and quarterly return filing for startups and MSMEs in Hyderabad.

How We Automated Recurring Tax Compliance Workflows Using Technology

taxgarden — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 12:20:48 +0000

Indian tax compliance is a recurring-deadline problem: GST returns monthly, TDS quarterly, ROC annually, each with its own data shape and portal. The manual version is a person re-keying the same ledger data into different forms and hoping nothing drifts.

The interesting engineering problem is reconciliation. GSTR-1 (what you reported as sales) has to agree with GSTR-3B (what you paid against) and with GSTR-2B (what your vendors reported). Modeling these as data pipelines with validation gates, instead of as forms a human fills, is where automation actually moves the needle: classify each transaction once, then let agents map it into every downstream return and flag mismatches before filing rather than after a notice.

We wrote up how the agent layer is structured here: AI-driven compliance platform.

Tech angle on automating ITR data prep + 26AS/AIS reconciliation.

taxgarden — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 12:19:02 +0000

The slow part of filing an income tax return is not the form, it is making your numbers agree with the tax department's numbers. Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) are effectively the government's view of your income and TDS. If your return disagrees, you get a notice.

So the sane data model treats 26AS/AIS as a source of truth to diff against, not as a reference to glance at. Pull both, normalize each line (deductor, section, amount, period), and reconcile against the taxpayer's own records before a single field of the ITR is populated. Mismatches become a worklist; everything that ties out flows straight through.

Treating filing as a diff-and-resolve pipeline is what makes it repeatable across thousands of returns. The form-selection and deadline context is here: ITR filing guide.