When you can discard an unverified ITR and refile instead of revising it

The Scenario

On 28 July 2026 you file ITR-1 for AY 2026-27 (FY 2025-26), declaring a gross salary of Rs 14,00,000. Three days later, while sorting your bank statements, you spot a Rs 60,000 fixed-deposit interest payout that never made it into Schedule OS. The return is sitting on the portal with the status "unverified" - you clicked submit but never completed e-verification.

Two paths now compete for your attention. One is the "Revise" route under section 139(5) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, which most taxpayers reach for out of habit. The other is the "Discard" button, available on the e-filing portal since AY 2023-24, which nullifies the return entirely so you can file a fresh one. Choosing wrong does not cost you the correction, but it can change your return's legal character - and, if the 31 July 2026 due date has passed, attach a section 234F late-filing fee you could otherwise have sidestepped.

The distinction matters because a return that has been e-verified cannot be discarded at all. Once you complete e-verification - or once the signed ITR-V reaches the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) in Bengaluru - the Discard option disappears, and section 139(5) becomes your only in-year remedy until the 31 December 2026 deadline.

Statutory Answer

The Discard Return facility is an administrative mechanism, not a standalone section of the Act. The Income Tax Department documents it in its Discard Return FAQs on incometax.gov.in, which set out four conditions that must all hold at the moment you click Discard:

• The return's status must be "unverified" or "pending verification". A return already e-verified cannot be discarded.
• The ITR-V must not already have been physically dispatched to CPC Bengaluru. If you posted the signed form, the window shuts even if the status still reads unverified on screen.
• The action must be completed within the filing timeline - on or before 31 December of the relevant assessment year, i.e. 31 December 2026 for AY 2026-27.
• The facility applies to returns for AY 2023-24 onwards only; earlier years cannot be discarded.

Discarding is irreversible. Once you confirm, the return is treated as though it was never filed, and the FAQs make clear there is no reversal mechanism and no cap on how many times you may use the option within the window. That is the critical difference from a revised return under section 139(5), which supersedes the earlier filing but leaves it on record as having been filed on its original date.

Here is where the date arithmetic bites. Under section 139(1), the statutory due date for a non-audit individual is 31 July of the assessment year - 31 July 2026 for AY 2026-27 (for AY 2025-26 the Central Board of Direct Taxes had pushed this to 15 September 2025 via Circular No. 6/2025, but no such general extension changes the base rule). A return originally filed under section 139(1) on or before the due date is an on-time return. Discard it after 31 July 2026, and any fresh return you file next is no longer a 139(1) return at all - it becomes a belated return under section 139(4), with all the consequences that flow from lateness.

Those consequences are two. First, section 234F levies a flat fee of Rs 5,000 for filing after the due date, reduced to Rs 1,000 where total income does not exceed Rs 5,00,000. Second, section 234A charges simple interest at 1% per month or part of a month on any self-assessment tax still unpaid, running from the due date to the date of filing. Neither applies to an on-time return - which is exactly why the timing of your discard decides the bill.

One more statutory anchor closes the loop. Verification is not optional: under CBDT Notification No. 05/2022 dated 29 July 2022, effective 1 August 2022, an uploaded return must be e-verified within 30 days of transmission, failing which it is treated as never furnished. So a return you neither discard nor verify quietly lapses after 30 days - the Discard facility simply lets you do deliberately, and on the record, what inaction would do messily.

Worked Resolution

Return to our taxpayer, who filed on 28 July 2026 and then found the missing Rs 60,000 of interest. Walk through both the tax maths and the two possible routes.

Under the new regime for FY 2025-26, a gross salary of Rs 14,00,000 less the standard deduction of Rs 75,000 leaves taxable income of Rs 13,25,000. Adding the omitted Rs 60,000 of FD interest lifts it to Rs 13,85,000. Because income exceeds Rs 12,00,000, the section 87A rebate of up to Rs 60,000 in the new regime does not apply here. The slab tax works out as follows:

The omitted interest therefore added Rs 9,000 of slab tax (15% of Rs 60,000) plus Rs 360 of cess - Rs 9,360 in all - over the Rs 81,900 the original understated return would have shown. You can reproduce these figures in the income tax calculator, and test whether the new regime is still cheaper for you using the old-vs-new comparison tool and the new-regime calculator.

Now the two routes, both decided by a single date - whether you act before or after 31 July 2026.

Route A - you discard on 30 July 2026, before the due date. The original return is erased. You refile the corrected version the same day. Because 31 July 2026 has not yet passed, the fresh return is filed under section 139(1) and is on time. No section 234F fee. No section 234A interest, provided the extra Rs 9,360 is paid as self-assessment tax before filing. Cost of the correction: nil beyond the tax itself.

Route B - you discard on 10 November 2026, after the due date. The original 139(1) return is erased, and the corrected return you file on, say, 12 November 2026 is a belated return under section 139(4). Section 234F now bites at Rs 5,000, because total income of Rs 13,85,000 is above the Rs 5,00,000 threshold that would have capped it at Rs 1,000. If the Rs 9,360 of extra tax was not already covered by TDS, section 234A adds 1% per month from August to November - four months, or 4% of Rs 9,360, roughly Rs 374. Total avoidable cost of discarding late: about Rs 5,374.

The lesson is blunt: if you intend to discard and refile, do it before the 31 July 2026 due date. After that the Discard facility still works right up to 31 December 2026, but it can no longer rescue your return's on-time status, and any refund arrives later because processing begins only once a valid, verified return is on file.

One trap: you cannot discard a verified return. If you have already e-verified and then spot the error, your route is a revised return under section 139(5), filable any number of times up to 31 December 2026 for AY 2026-27, with the original filing date preserved. The assessment year framing matters because every deadline here - 31 July, 31 December, and the 48-month section 139(8A) window - is measured against the AY, not the financial year in which you earned the income.

FAQ

Can I discard a return after I have already e-verified it?

No. The Income Tax Department's Discard Return FAQs on incometax.gov.in state the facility is available only while the status is "unverified" or "pending verification". Once e-verified, or once the signed ITR-V has reached CPC Bengaluru, the Discard option is withdrawn and your only in-year remedy is a revised return under section 139(5) up to 31 December 2026.

How many times can I discard a return in one assessment year?

There is no limit. The FAQs confirm there is no restriction on the number of times the Discard option may be used, provided each discard happens while the return is unverified and on or before 31 December of the assessment year - 31 December 2026 for AY 2026-27.

If I discard an on-time return after 31 July, does refiling cost me a penalty?

Effectively yes. Any return filed after the 31 July 2026 due date is a belated return under section 139(4), attracting the section 234F fee of Rs 5,000 (Rs 1,000 if total income is Rs 5,00,000 or less) plus section 234A interest at 1% per month on unpaid tax. Discarding the original 139(1) return removes its on-time protection, so refile before 31 July 2026 wherever possible.

Is discarding reversible if I change my mind?

No. The FAQs are explicit that once a return is discarded the action cannot be reversed, and the return is treated as if it was never filed. If you discard and then take no further action, you have no valid return on record, so you must file a fresh one before 31 December 2026 to avoid being treated as a non-filer for AY 2026-27.

What if the 31 December 2026 deadline passes and I still need to correct my return?

Your remedy shifts to an updated return under section 139(8A), which can be filed up to 48 months from the end of the assessment year. This carries additional tax under section 140B on top of the normal liability, so it is materially more expensive than either a timely discard or a revised return filed by 31 December 2026.

Does discarding affect my refund?

Yes, in timing. Refund processing begins only once a valid, verified return is on file. If you discard an unverified return in November 2026 and refile, the clock on your tax refund restarts from the fresh filing's verification date, so expect the credit later than if you had verified a correct return first time.

Can I use Discard to fix a return filed for AY 2022-23 or earlier?

No. The facility applies only to returns for AY 2023-24 onwards, per the incometax.gov.in FAQs. For older years, the route is a revised return (if still within time) or an updated return under section 139(8A), subject to the 48-month limit measured from the end of each assessment year.