Now that the Income Tax Return (ITR) filing online and excel utilities have been launched by the Income Tax Department, you can start filing ITR. However, if you are a salaried individual, a pensioner or any one with an extra source of income like FD interest, mutual fund dividend or capital gains from selling assets, you need to keep an eye on the timeline. See, the ITR utility is available but companies, banks and others typically file their annual specified financial statement (SFT) return by May 31. Now data from this SFT return is used by the Income Tax Department to auto populate information in your Annual Information Statement (AIS). Also, employers usually hand out Form 16 to their salaried employees by June 15th. Considering this system, it's a good idea to hold off on filing your ITR till June 15 if you rely on the information from Form 16 and AIS. If you have the necessary information required to file ITR, then you can file it before June 15 as well. All it takes is careful planning, time and your full attention. For instance, if you are a retired person with only two sources of income, pension and FD interest, then you can choose to file ITR before June 15th. But if your income sources are diverse like FD, mutual funds, equities, property sale, pension, house rent, and more then its better to wait at least for the AIS update.For AY 2026-2027 (which is different from Tax Year 2026-2027), students, pensioners, salaried, and others who are not required to conduct a tax audit must submit their ITR on or before July 31, 2026. For Tax Year 2026-2027, the deadline is July 31, 2027.When is AIS updated from SFT and other records for AY 2026-2027? Chartered Accountant Abhishek Soni, co-founder, Tax2Win, says that AIS keeps updating throughout the year. Generally, financial institutions must file their SFTs annually by May 31. Soni says: "Once this is done, the data will be reflected in your AIS within weeks. Thus, it is highly recommended to wait at least till June 15th to file your Income Tax Return (ITR) to avoid any discrepancies, which can lead to an income tax notice from the Income Tax Department."Who should not wait for the AIS update and file ITR right now in May 2026?Soni says that if you have a fixed income (single and salaried) and require the ITR V for loan approval, you can file the ITR in May itself. Soni says: "However, it is strongly recommended that taxpayers avoid any further scrutiny; they must wait for the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) to be updated."