Income Tax: Why Taxpayers Want Excel Utilities for ITR‑2 & ITR‑3

While the Income Tax Department (CBDT) has rolled out Excel utilities for ITR‑1 and ITR‑4 (forms Sahaj & Sugam), ITR‑2 and ITR‑3 remain unavailable via Excel, frustrating individual taxpayers and professionals

Why the Delay Is a Concern

• Offline Preferences: Many seasoned users—especially chartered accountants and businesses—rely on Excel-based tools to draft, validate, and prepare returns offline before uploading .
• Stalemate in Filing: Although all ITR forms have been officially notified for AY 2025–26, the lack of Excel utilities for ITR‑2/3 means those filers can’t submit forms yet, prolonging the delay

Taxpayer Backlash on Social Media

Calls for a release have amplified on platforms like X:

• User Raisaar and Vishwa Sivan urged for utilities to be enabled immediately
• Sarath pointed out that form 2 should come before any validation or bank-account guidance
• Niteen Nihal Dwivedi asked, “when will ITR‑2 and ITR‑3 start in reference to excel utilities?”

What the CBDT Is Doing

• Staged roll-out: CBDT typically rolls out Excel utilities in phases. This year, ITR‑1/4 were released on May 29, with the Common Offline Utility (JavaScript/JSON) following on June 10
• Upcoming releases: The updated Excel tools (Version 1.8) for ITR‑2 and ITR‑3 were published in January 2025 But taxpayers report file submission still blocked, pending portal activation

Why This Matters

• Complex filings need prep tools: Individuals with capital gains, foreign income, multiple house properties, business profits, or professional income depend on ITR‑2/3 forms—without utilities, they’re stuck.
• 87A rebate glitch: A utility version lacked automatic pass-through of Section 87A tax rebate on short-term capital gains. The updated version allows manual entry, but without JSON schema updates, its acceptance by the CPC is uncertain

Expert Advice for Taxpayers

• Wait until mid-June: For e-filing to open fully—with utilities, Form 16/16A, and Statement of Financial Transactions data—experts recommend filing post-June 15
• Revised deadline gives room: CBDT extended the ITR deadline to 15 September 2025, offering additional buffer .
• Prep proactively: Meanwhile, taxpayers should gather documents, shortlist applicable ITR forms, and pause until utilities truly permit filing