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The IT01 return, step by step

Short answers to the questions people ask about the IT01 return. Each rule links to its page in the Income Tax Act.

• How to prepare your IT01 return when you are self-employed
  The full guide: dates, documents, reliefs and tax bands.
• Who must send an IT01 return?
  The conditions in the Income Tax Act that make an IT01 return necessary, and when you can stop.
• IT01 deadline 2026, and the penalties if you send the return after it
  The last date for the IT01 return for 2025 to 2026, and the penalties and interest after that date.
• Salary and a side business: how to complete your IT01
  How to put a salary and a side business on one IT01 return, and how the tax works.
• Freelancer or consultant: how to put your income on the IT01
  How a freelancer finds the business income in the bank statements, which expenses to subtract, and which records to keep.
• Which reliefs and deductions can you claim on the IT01?
  Each relief and deduction in the Income Tax Act, with the amounts and conditions for 2025 to 2026.
• Must you send a statement of income each quarter?
  Who must send a statement of income each quarter, the exceptions, and the due dates.
• Can you deduct the interest on your housing loan?
  The conditions for interest relief on a housing loan, and the income limit of Rs 4,000,000.
• How to sort a year of bank statements for your tax return
  A method to sort each payment in a year of bank statements before you complete your IT01.

Let IT01 AI do these steps

IT01 AI is an app for Mac, Windows and Linux. It reads your bank statements and your statement of emoluments on your computer, sorts each payment, and calculates the tax with each figure linked to the Act. One payment of Rs 4,990, and the licence has no end date.

These articles explain the law as it stands on 3 October 2026. It is not tax advice.