What documents are required for ITR? | Documents for ITR filing AY 2025-26

Filing your Income Tax Return (ITR) means reporting a lot of details—from the income you earned in the year to the taxes you paid through TDS, TCS, or advance tax.

To put all this together accurately, you’ll need certain documents: income proofs, investment records, and tax deduction certificates. If you keep them handy in one place, filing your return becomes much easier.

Here’s a simple checklist of documents you’ll need to file your ITR:

1) Personal documents

These contain your identity details and are especially important if you’re filing your return for the first time.

  • PAN
  • Aadhaar

2) Bank documents

It’s mandatory to disclose all your active bank accounts—whether in India or abroad—in your ITR. You’ll need to report details like bank name, account number, IFSC code, and the total number of accounts. You can find these in your passbooks, chequebooks, or account statements.

You’ll also need certificates of interest income and TDS from banks to report interest earned on savings accounts and fixed deposits.

  • Details of all bank accounts (domestic & foreign)
  • Bank statements
  • Annual interest statements (interest certificate)
  • TDS certificates issued by banks

3) Tax documents

Documents like Form 26AS, AIS and TIS, provided by the Income Tax Department, contain a record of your income, investments, and taxes paid.

It’s also a good idea to keep copies of any challans for tax payments and your previous year’s return if you need to refer to them.

4) Income documents

Depending on your sources of income, you’ll need different sets of documents to report them correctly. For example, you’ll need Form 16 if you are a salaried employee, while freelancers and consultants should collect Form 16A. If you have income from a business or profession, you are required to maintain books of accounts and report those details accurately.

  • Salaried: Form 16, monthly salary slips
  • Form 16A (for freelancers/consultants)
  • Financial statements for business/profession: P&L statement, balance sheet
  • Income from stocks/MFs/ETFs: Broker trade books, P&L report, Tax P&L report

5) Real estate documents

If you earned rental income or bought/sold property, keep these ready:

  • Rental income: Lease deed, tenant details
  • Municipal tax receipts (can be claimed as expense)
  • Sale of property: Purchase/sale deed, buyer’s PAN & Aadhaar

6) Deductions/expenses proofs

If you plan to claim deductions for tax-saving investments like ELSS funds, PPF, NPS, or insurance, or if you have expenses related to your business or profession, these are the documents needed.

  • Rent receipts (to claim HRA/business expense)
  • Home/education loan tax certificate
  • Proof of investments: ELSS/PPF/NPS statements
  • Health/life insurance premium receipts
  • Donation receipts
  • Receipts of business/profession expenses

7) Other documents

Lastly, a few more documents depending on whatever applies in your case.

  • Foreign assets (stocks/funds): Reports from investment platform
  • Details of ESOPs/RSUs/unlisted shares
  • Details of exempt incomes like agricultural income, tax-free gifts

Please note this is not an exhaustive list and you might need more documents based on your profile and income situation.

Moreover, these documents are only required to furnish the details and none of these need to be submitted while filing your ITR. But, remember to keep them handy as you may need them in case of a scrutiny assessment or notice from the income tax department.

Happy tax filing!

Thank you @Surbhi_Pal for the informative post.

Here as you have said “these documents are only required to furnish the details”, I just wanted to know to whom these documents are to be furnished?

Or did you mean that these documents are needed as supporting documents for what we mention in our ITR.

Additionally I suppose, these documents are required if any clarifications are sought by the department after filing the ITR.

Thank you.

To file ITR for AY 2025-26, you need PAN, Aadhaar, Form 16, salary slips, interest certificates, TDS details, bank statements, investment proofs, rent receipts, and capital gain statements if applicable. Make sure that all documents are accurate so you can file them easily and claim any deductions or refunds that may be due.