Section 139 - Return of income

Filing obligation for income returns: triggers, due dates, late-filing interest and revision/update rules clarified.

Section 139 requires persons whose total income exceeds the basic exemption to furnish a return of income by prescribed due dates, with distinct deadlines for companies, audited assessees and those required to furnish transfer pricing reports. It prescribes triggers obliging filing even where salary-only income exists (e.g., specified immovable property occupation, motor vehicle ownership, foreign travel expenditure, credit-card holding, high-value deposits or transactions, and foreign assets or signing authority), mandates specified particulars and annexures in prescribed forms, allows revision and updated returns within statutory windows subject to exclusions, imposes interest for late or non-filing, and empowers the Board and Central Government to notify classes, exemptions and procedural requirements.