r/IncomeTax_India

Hi all, need some help with a filing mismatch.My employer gave me a meal card, and on my Form 16 Part B, they claimed the ₹26,400 exemption under Section 10 (listed near the bottom of the Sec 10 block).When I go to the e-filing portal to fill out Schedule Salary:There is no drop-down option under Section 10 for "Meal Allowance" or "Any Other Allowance" anymore.My Section 17(2) field is exactly ₹xxxxx (matching my Form 12BA for stock options/provident fund), so the meal allowance isn't mixed into perquisites.Because the portal isn't picking up the Section 10 exemption, my portal's calculated net salary is exactly ₹26,400 higher than my physical Form 16.For those who faced this layout update this year, did you manually subtract the ₹26,400 from the Section 17(1) Gross Salary line item, or is there another place to declare it? (Filing under Old Regime).

I filed my ITR for AY 2026–27 on 6 June 2026 and successfully e-verified it on the same day.
It’s now 18 August, more than two months later, and the status is still showing as Processing. I’m also expecting a refund, so that is stuck as well.
I’ve now raised a grievance under CPC-ITR → Processing → Others - Processing asking them to process the return.
Is anyone else who filed in June 2026 still waiting for their ITR to be processed? If you raised a grievance, did it actually help, and how long did it take after that for your ITR/refund to be processed?
Would appreciate hearing about recent AY 2026–27 experiences.

I hired subcontractors for a large project, so my actual profit is only around ₹15 lakh on ₹40 lakh receipts. Can I declare the actual profit instead of 50%, and what additional compliance would that create?

My professional receipts were ₹72 lakh until February, but a client cleared an old ₹6 lakh invoice in March. Almost everything was received digitally. Can I still use 44ADA, or has the March payment pushed me out of presumptive taxation?

I work independently as a 3D modeller for gaming and architecture clients and earned ₹21 lakh. I'm confused because my work doesn't clearly fall under the professions listed for 44ADA. Would 44AD be more appropriate?

I'm a 35M based in Mumbai, looking for advice from folks here on optimizing tax deductions and figuring out the best ways to maximize my take-home pay.

1. My Current Pay Structure

Total Fixed CTC: ₹37,10,000 / year

Basic Salary: ₹17,50,000 / year (~₹1,45,833/month)

Flexible Allowances (HRA + Conveyance): ₹17,50,000 / year (Conveyance is ₹19,200/year, remainder is HRA)

Employer PF Contribution: ₹2,10,000 / year (12% of Basic)

Gross Annual Salary (CTC − Employer PF): ₹35,00,000 / year

(Target variable/bonus exists up to ~₹40.25L Total Reward, but I'm planning purely around fixed pay for monthly cash flow).

2. Current Lifestyle & Fixed Commitments

Rent: ₹20,000/month (₹2,40,000/year).

Dependents/Health: No pre-existing ailments. Covered under corporate health insurance, but buying an independent personal base (₹5L–₹10L) + Super Top-up (₹20L–₹25L).

Loans: No active home loans or educational loans right now.

3. Company Flexi-Benefits Available to Me

My company allows restructuring from the balance HRA pool for:

Corporate NPS (Sec 80CCD(2)): Up to 10% of Basic (~₹1.75L/year).

Leave Travel Allowance (LTA): Can be declared against domestic travel bills.

4. My Dilemma / Current Math

New Tax Regime: With the standard deduction (₹75k) and Corporate NPS under 80CCD(2) (₹1.75L), my taxable base drops to ~₹32.5L–₹33.25L, putting monthly TDS around ~₹48.8k (in-hand ~₹2.07L–₹2.10L after PF/NPS).

Old Tax Regime: With 80C capped at ₹1.5L (already breached by mandatory PF of ₹2.1L), ₹1.75L Corporate NPS, and standard deduction, my HRA deduction is only ₹65k/year (since ₹20k rent is very low compared to my 10% Basic threshold of ₹1.75L). This makes Old Regime TDS come out higher (₹52.8k/month).

Questions for the community:

Old Regime Levers: What additional legal avenues (outside of buying a house for Section 24(b) or massive 80D senior citizen health premiums) can high earners with low rent utilize to significantly bring down taxable income in the Old Regime?

New Regime Optimization: For those in a similar ₹35L+ gross bracket under the New Regime, are there any other flexi-allowances or structuring hacks I should look into?

EPF + VPF vs. Mutual Funds: Since I'm in the 30% slab, is it worth maxing VPF up to the ₹2.5L tax-free interest limit, or should I channel that surplus directly into equity mutual funds given a 10+ year horizon?

Appreciate any insights!

I have ₹19 lakh salary income and a ₹2.8 lakh business loss from my consultancy. Can the loss be adjusted against my salary income?

One invoice of around $2,300 from a UK client was completely missed while filing. Since the money came through Wise and not TDS, how serious is this omission?

I earned ₹2.1 lakh as referral commission from another consultant apart from my normal professional fees. Should this also be treated as professional receipts under Section 44ADA?

Even though I'm filing under presumptive taxation, can I separately disclose internet and mobile expenses for record purposes, or should they be ignored completely?

Three clients owe me around ₹4.8 lakh as of 31 March. While preparing ITR-3, should these unpaid invoices be shown as sundry debtors?

I receive monthly consulting payments in USD through Wise. Should I use the RBI reference rate, the bank conversion rate or the actual INR credited to my account?

Hi, I am planning to purchase a property from an individual NRI and I am trying to understand the end to end process for TDS deduction and payment. Here is what I have found out so far.

- Create a new TAN number as a buyer.

- deduct 12.5%+surcharge+cess from the total sale consideration.

- login to the income tax website using the TAN and make a TDS deposit under the appropriate section. This step doesn't mention anything about the seller PAN number or details.

- file quarterly form 144 and match TDS challan with the seller PAN and other details.

- share the details with the seller

I should be done here. Could someone please validate my understanding.

Thanks a lot.

Has anyone who filed ITR-3 got processing done? Please mention date of filing and amount of refund, if any.

I've filed under Section 44ADA for the last four years. My CA says continuous use may invite more questions if my expenses are unusually low. Is there any basis for this concern?