Income Tax Department releases ITR-5 Excel utility for AY 2026-27; here's who can file and who cannot

The Income Tax Department has released the Excel utility for filing ITR-5 for the Assessment Year (AY) 2026-27, enabling eligible taxpayers to prepare their returns offline. The utility is now available for download from the Income Tax e-Filing portal, continuing the phased rollout of return filing tools for the current assessment year.

The Income Tax Department has made the Excel Utility for ITR-5 available for Assessment Year (AY) 2026-27, allowing eligible taxpayers such as firms, LLPs, cooperative societies and certain trusts to prepare their income tax returns offline.

Announcing the release on X, the department said, "Kind Attention Taxpayers! The Excel Utility for ITR-5 for Assessment Year 2026-27 is now available on the Income Tax e-Filing portal." Taxpayers can download the utility from the Downloads section of the official e-Filing portal.

The release is part of the department's phased rollout of filing utilities for the current assessment year. Earlier, the Excel utilities for ITR-1 and ITR-4 were released on May 15, online filing for ITR-2 was enabled on May 27, while both the online filing facility and Excel utility for ITR-3 were launched on June 19.

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Who can file ITR-5?

ITR-5 is designed for taxpayers other than individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and companies. It can be filed by:

• Firms
• Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)
• Associations of Persons (AOPs)
• Bodies of Individuals (BOIs)
• Artificial Juridical Persons (AJPs)
• Local authorities
• Representative assessees covered under Section 160(1)(iii) or (iv)
• Cooperative societies
• Societies registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, or corresponding state laws
• Trusts that are not required to file ITR-7
• Estates of deceased or insolvent persons
• Business trusts covered under Section 139(4E)
• Investment funds covered under Section 139(4F)
  
  Who cannot use ITR-5?

The following taxpayers are not eligible to file ITR-5:

Individual taxpayers
Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs)
Companies
Taxpayers who are required to file returns in ITR-7 under Sections 139(4A), 139(4B), 139(4C), 139(4D), 139(4E) or 139(4F).

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Offline filing process

The Excel utility enables taxpayers to prepare their return without an internet connection before uploading it to the e-Filing portal.

After downloading the utility from the portal, users need to extract the ZIP file and open the Excel utility. Taxpayers can import pre-filled data downloaded from the e-Filing portal, including personal details and tax information, complete the remaining schedules, validate the return and generate a JSON file for uploading online.

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The utility supports importing pre-filled information, while profile details other than PAN can be edited directly within the utility. Any changes to PAN-related information must first be made on the e-Filing portal before generating a fresh pre-filled JSON file.

Common offline utility updated

Separately, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also made available the latest Version 1.2.1 of the Common Offline Utility for ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3 and ITR-4 for Windows. The first version of the Mac utility has also been released.

The common utility is based on JSON technology and allows taxpayers to import pre-filled information, validate returns and generate JSON files for upload. However, certain features—including tax payment through the utility, direct ITR upload and a questionnaire to help users identify the correct ITR form—will be introduced in future updates.

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With the release of the ITR-5 Excel utility, most major income tax return forms for AY 2026-27 are now available, enabling eligible taxpayers to begin filing their returns well before the due date.