Rule 165 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026

Where this rule sits

Rule 165 gives effect to Section 263 and Section 63 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.

← Rule 164  ·  Rule 166 →

What this rule does

Sub-rule (1) requires the return of income to be furnished by a person eligible to file under section 263(6) to be in the Form ITR-UN, verified in the manner indicated in it.

Sub-rule (2) prescribes how it is to be furnished, through a Table. A company must furnish it electronically under digital signature. Any person whose accounts are required to be audited under section 63 may furnish it electronically under digital signature, or by transmitting the data electronically in the return under electronic verification code. Any other person may do either of those, or transmit the data in the return electronically and thereafter submit the verification of the return in Form ITR-V.

Sub-rule (3) defines "electronic verification code" for sub-rule (2) as a code generated for the purpose of electronic verification of the person furnishing the return, as per the data structure and standards specified by the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director General of Income-tax (Systems).

Why it is there

Section 263(6) allows an updated return but leaves the form and the manner of furnishing it to be prescribed. This rule names the form, ITR-UN, and then grades the verification requirement by the filer: a company gets no choice but a digital signature, an audited person has two routes, and everyone else may also use the paper verification in Form ITR-V.

Who it applies to

• Any person eligible to furnish an updated return under section 263(6)
• A company furnishing an updated return
• Any person whose accounts are required to be audited under section 63
• Any other person furnishing an updated return

The forms it prescribes

• Form ITR-UN — the updated return of income under section 263(6)
• Form ITR-V — verification of a return transmitted electronically, available only to persons in Sl. No. 3 of the Table

What this means in practice

The manner of furnishing is not a matter of preference. A company has one route only — electronically under digital signature — and a person whose accounts are required to be audited under section 63 has two, neither of which is ITR-V. Only the residual class in Sl. No. 3 may transmit the data and then submit Form ITR-V, so an audited firm that files without a digital signature or an electronic verification code has not furnished the return in the manner sub-rule (2) prescribes. The electronic verification code is not something the filer devises: sub-rule (3) ties it to the data structure and standards specified by the Principal Director General or Director General of Income-tax (Systems). Whether a person may file an updated return at all is a question for section 263(6), not for this rule.

An example

A partnership firm whose accounts are required to be audited under section 63 decides to file an updated return for a tax year. It must use Form ITR-UN and furnish it either under digital signature or by transmitting the data under electronic verification code. Sending the data and then posting Form ITR-V is not open to it; that route belongs to Sl. No. 3 of the Table.

Where you meet this rule

You meet it whenever an updated return is filed — in the choice of ITR-UN over the ordinary return form, and in the verification step the filing portal requires of the particular class of filer.

The words themselves

What people get wrong

• Filing an updated return in the ordinary return form. Sub-rule (1) requires Form ITR-UN.
• Using Form ITR-V as an audited person or a company. The Table allows it only for persons at Sl. No. 3.
• Assuming a company may verify by electronic verification code. Sl. No. 1 of the Table allows only a digital signature.
• Reading this rule for eligibility to file an updated return. That is settled by section 263(6); the rule prescribes only the form and manner.