Schedule VI-A – Deductions under Chapter VI-A AY 2026-27
‘Schedule VI-A’ in the Income Tax Return (ITR) form is intended for assessees who wish to claim deductions available under Chapter VI-A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The schedule captures various deductions that reduce the assessee’s gross total income. Certain deduction details must be filled in manually using the dropdown options provided in the e-filing utility, while others are auto-populated based on inputs in other schedules or annexures.
The structure of this schedule is divided into parts, and the division may differ depending on the ITR form being filed. Generally, it consists of three broad sections:
The first part covers deductions for certain payments, including investments, life insurance premiums, tuition fees, contributions to pension schemes, medical insurance, interest on housing or education loans, and donations made to specified funds or institutions.
The second part relates to deductions on income from specified businesses or activities, such as infrastructure development, housing projects, development of SEZs, employment of new workers, and royalty income from patents or books. Some of these details are auto-filled from related schedules, such as 80-IA and 80-IB , and from annexures like Form 10DA .
The third part addresses other deductions, including interest on savings accounts, interest for senior citizens, deductions for persons with disabilities, contributions to the Agniveer Corpus Fund, and other eligible deductions as specified in the e-filing utility.
The total deduction under Chapter VI-A is calculated by aggregating the eligible amounts from all parts.
This schedule applies to ITR-2, ITR-3, ITR-5, and ITR-6. In ITR-1 and ITR-4, the assessee can claim the deduction by providing the details under the “Part C – Deductions and Taxable Total Income” of the respective ITR form.
• Chapter VI-A of the Income-tax Act, 1961
An assessee is taxed on the total income of the previous year in the relevant assessment year. While computing the total income, certain deductions are allowed from the gross total income of an assessee. These are staggered under different provisions, contained under sections 80A to 80U. Some of them relate to contributions to promote social justice while others are related to incomes in the larger interest to promote economic growth.