ITR Filing 2026: Method for reporting income from gifts, loans, and land sales has changed; know the new rule..

ITR New Rule: If you are filing an Income Tax Return (ITR), this news is important for you. The Income Tax Department has added a new column to the online ITR filing process for the Assessment Year 2026-27. It is titled ‘Receipts not like income’. This does not mean that gifts, loans, or other such amounts will now be subject to tax. The only change is that such amounts must now be reported in the correct section. This will simplify the ITR filing process and reduce the likelihood of receiving unnecessary notices. According to a Moneycontrol report, this change has currently been implemented in the online filing system and the JSON utility; there have been no changes to the notified ITR forms or PDF versions yet.

What is the new change?
Previously, many taxpayers used to report gifts received from relatives, loan amounts, or proceeds from the sale of rural agricultural land under the ‘Other Exempt Income’ column. However, under income tax laws, these are not classified as tax-exempt income; in fact, they are not considered income at all. To resolve this confusion, the Income Tax Department has introduced the ‘Receipts not like income’ column. Such amounts must now be reported in this specific column.

What information needs to be provided here?
This new column can be used to report amounts that are not legally classified as income, such as:

Gifts received from relatives.
Amounts received as loans.
Capital receipts.
Proceeds from the sale of rural agricultural land.
This will help the department understand the source of funds credited to your account.

Is it mandatory to provide this information now?
The answer is no. The addition of this new column does not make it mandatory to disclose every such amount.
However, if an individual has received a substantial gift or sold rural agricultural land, it is advisable to report it in this new column. Doing so can minimize the risk of facing unnecessary queries or notices from the Income Tax Department in the future.

What is the difference between ‘Exempt Income’ and this new column?
This is where most people make mistakes. Exempt income refers to income that is not subject to tax under the law—such as interest on PPF, agricultural income, maturity proceeds from certain life insurance policies, and long-term capital gains up to a specified limit. On the other hand, gifts received from relatives, loans, capital receipts, and proceeds from the sale of rural agricultural land are not considered income at all. Therefore, these must now be reported under the new column titled ‘Receipts not like income’.

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