Section 80G Deduction: New ITR Rule Requires Payment Trail

If you claim a tax deduction for donations to a charitable institution, the receipt alone may not be enough this year. The Income Tax Department's updated ITR forms for Assessment Year 2026-27 require a digital payment trail.

Taxpayers claiming deductions under Section 80G of the Income-tax Act must now provide the transaction reference number for donations made through UPI, NEFT, RTGS, IMPS or cheque. The IFSC code of the remitting bank is also mandatory. The new requirement applies across ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3 and ITR-4.

The eligibility conditions for Section 80G remain unchanged. What has changed is the verification method. The department wants to link each deduction claim to banking records, not just the amount declared by the taxpayer.

Donations do not appear in the Annual Information Statement (AIS), Form 26AS or the Taxpayer Information Statement (TIS) unless the employer already factored them into TDS. That means you cannot rely on pre-filled data. You need to reconcile your claim using the donation receipt and your bank statement.

Missing or incorrect payment details could cause the return to fail validation or the deduction to be questioned during processing. The transaction reference number is not optional. If you do not have it, retrieve it from your bank statement, internet banking portal or UPI app. Do not enter estimated numbers. Keep a duplicate receipt from the charitable institution if the original is lost.

Before filing, confirm that the institution is approved under Section 80G. Organisations not eligible under the provision cannot be claimed. The Cleartax guide notes that this is a common error.

The ITR forms for AY 2026-27 were notified by the Income Tax Department with these validation rules.