New Delhi, Jan. 15 -- December 2025 was an anxious month for many taxpayers who received a 'nudge' from the income tax department asking them to revisit their Income Tax Returns (ITR) for FY25. The department flagged possible discrepancies and urged taxpayers to revise their returns before the 31 December deadline.

That window has now closed. But what if an error still remains uncorrected, or a disclosure was missed altogether?

In such cases, the only remaining route is filing an updated return-commonly known as ITR-U. It offers taxpayers a second chance to disclose missed income, though with important limitations and financial consequences.

An updated return can be filed within four years from the end of the relevant assessment year t...