ITR filing for senior citizens and pensioners

• Senior citizens: residents aged 60 or more (and below 80) at any time during the year
• Super senior citizens: residents aged 80 or more at any time during the year
• Pensioners of any age, including those who get a family pension
• Retired people with interest from FDs, savings accounts or post office schemes
• Seniors with rent from house property or capital gains from shares, funds or property

We check which limit applies to you.

You must also file, whatever your income, if in the year:

• TDS and TCS together are ₹50,000 or more (this limit is for residents aged 60 or more)
• Deposits in your savings accounts total ₹50 lakh or more
• You spent more than ₹2 lakh on foreign travel, or more than ₹1 lakh on electricity
• You deposited more than ₹1 crore in current accounts

Age 75 and above (section 194P): you do not need to file a return if all of these are true: you are 75 or older and resident; your only income is pension and interest; the interest is from the same bank that pays your pension; that bank is a specified bank notified by the government; and you give the bank a declaration (Form 12BBA). The bank then works out your tax and deducts it. If you have interest from another bank, rent or capital gains, you still file.

Even when you do not have to file, a return is the only way to get back TDS cut on your FD interest.

• Advance tax: a resident aged 60 or more with no business or professional income does not pay advance tax.
• TDS on bank interest: for senior citizens, a bank, co-operative bank or post office deducts TDS on time deposit interest only if the year's interest is more than ₹1 lakh.
• Form 121 (old Form 15H): if the tax on your estimated total income for the year is nil, you can give the bank a declaration so that no TDS is cut on interest. Up to FY 2025-26 this was Form 15H. From tax year 2026-27 it is Form 121.
• Paper return at 80+: super senior citizens can file ITR-1 or ITR-4 on paper. E-filing stays open to them.
• If you claim 80TTB, you cannot also claim 80TTA.
• For the full slab tables, the ₹12 lakh rebate and worked examples in both regimes, see income tax for senior citizens.

• Monthly pension from a former employer is taxed under "Salaries". You get the standard deduction on it.
• Family pension (received after the death of the employee) is taxed under "Income from other sources", with the family pension deduction in the table above.
• Commuted pension (a lump sum taken in place of part of the pension): fully tax-free for government employees; for others, one-third is tax-free if you also got gratuity, and one-half if you did not.
• More on how each type of pension is taxed: pension tax for senior citizens.

Use ITR-1 if you are resident, your total income is up to ₹50 lakh, and your income is pension, interest, family pension and up to two house properties, with long-term gains on listed shares or equity funds (section 112A) up to ₹1.25 lakh. Use ITR-2 if you have a short-term capital gain, a 112A gain above ₹1.25 lakh, more than two house properties, foreign income, or income above ₹50 lakh. See our guide to which ITR form to file.

• Put your pension, family pension and commuted pension in the right lines.
• Collect your interest from every bank and post office account, and match it with Form 26AS and AIS.
• Work out your tax in both regimes, with 80TTB and 80D in the old regime, and file in the one you choose.
• Check whether section 194P covers you, so you do not file when you do not need to, or skip filing when you do.
• Claim back TDS cut on your FDs.
• File the return and help you e-verify it. If you are 80 or more and want a paper return, we prepare it for you to submit.

If you file after 31 July 2026:

• Late fee under section 234F: ₹5,000, or up to ₹1,000 if your total income is not more than ₹5 lakh.
• Interest under section 234A: 1% a month or part of a month on tax still unpaid.
• A loss (other than a house property loss) cannot be carried forward.

As of 10 October 2026 we have not found any extension of the 31 July 2026 date. Read more in our late fee and belated return guide, or let us file your belated return.

• Claiming 80TTB or 80D in the new regime. They are allowed only in the old regime.
• Claiming both 80TTA and 80TTB.
• Leaving out FD interest because no TDS was cut, or because you gave Form 121 (old Form 15H). The interest is still income.
• Assuming section 194P covers you when you have interest from a second bank, rent or capital gains.
• Treating family pension as salary. It goes under other sources, with its own deduction.