ITR-5: the form for entities that are not companies

Firms and LLPs, associations of persons and bodies of individuals, local authorities and artificial juridical persons, business trusts u/s 115UA, investment funds u/s 115UB and co-operative societies. Everything that is neither an individual nor a company nor a Section 11 trust.

Start your ITR-5 Not sure? Check your form

A flat rate for firms and LLPs, the slabs for AOPs, BOIs and AJPs (the new regime unless Form 10-IEA opts out), and surcharge at 12% above ₹1 crore for a firm.

Who files it Who files something else What the form asks for Key dates How BharatTax prepares it Questions

Who files ITR-5

ITR-5 is the return for the following classes of assessee:

Partnership firms and limited liability partnerships — taxed at a flat 30%.
Associations of persons and bodies of individuals. Where the members’ shares are determinate, Section 167B routes the computation to the individual slabs — the new regime’s under Section 115BAC unless Form 10-IEA opts out of it; where they are indeterminate, the flat 30% applies.
Local authorities — 30%.
Artificial juridical persons — the individual slabs, in the new regime unless Form 10-IEA opts out.
Co-operative societies — the three-bracket schedule of 10%, 20% and 30%, or a flat 22% if the society has opted irrevocably into Section 115BAD.
Business trusts u/s 115UA and investment funds u/s 115UB, with the pass-through statement in Schedule PTI.
Estates of a deceased person or of an insolvent, and trusts other than those filing ITR-7.

A firm pays a fixed rate, and the co-operative society’s 115BAD election is irrevocable once made. An AOP, BOI or AJP is on the new regime under Section 115BAC unless its Form 10-IEA answers opt out: BharatTax asks those questions and computes the one regime they lead to, rather than offering a comparison the law does not.

Alternate minimum tax

AMT u/s 115JC does not apply to an assessee taxed under Section 115BAC, and no AMT credit u/s 115JD is set off against its tax: an AOP, BOI or AJP on the new regime has neither, and BharatTax carries any credit brought forward from earlier years in Schedule AMTC without using it. Otherwise AMT turns on deductions under Chapter VI-A Part C, Section 10AA or 35AD: 18.5% of adjusted total income (9% for a unit in an IFSC), for an AOP, BOI or AJP only above ₹20 lakh. BharatTax computes it from the deductions entered, charges the higher of AMT and the regular tax, and sets off AMT credit brought forward, oldest year first.

Who does not file ITR-5

Three classes of assessee are carved out of ITR-5 and have their own return.

If you are one of these	Which form instead
An individual or a Hindu Undivided Family	ITR-1, ITR-2, ITR-3 or ITR-4
A company	ITR-6, or ITR-7 if claiming exemption u/s 11
A trust, political party, research association or institution claiming exemption u/s 11, 13A, 13B or 10(23C)	ITR-7

These are the checks BharatTax itself runs. The product applies the same rules to your figures as you enter them and moves you to the right form before you file — it does not let you submit a return on a form you are not eligible for.

What ITR-5 asks for

ITR-5 carries the full set of corporate-style accounts alongside the income schedules.

Schedule	What it carries
Part A – GEN1 / GEN2	Identity of the entity, its status, the nature of business, and the partners or members with their shares.
Part A – BS / P&L	Balance sheet, manufacturing account, trading account and profit and loss, in the CBDT’s line order.
Part A – OI / QD	Other information, and quantitative details of stock.
Schedule BP	Business income from the profit and loss, with the additions and deductions the Act requires.
Schedule DPM / DOA / DEP / DCG	Depreciation block by block, and deemed capital gains on assets sold out of a block.
Schedules HP, CG, 112A, 115AD, VDA, OS	House property, capital gains including per-scrip 112A detail, non-resident investor gains u/s 115AD, virtual digital assets and other sources.
Schedule CYLA / BFLA / CFL / UD	Set-off within the year, against brought-forward losses, what carries forward, and unabsorbed depreciation.
Schedule 80G / 80GGA / 80GGC / 80P / 80-IA / 80-IB / 80-IC / 80LA / 80IAC	The deductions available to an entity — there is no 80C or 80D here.
Schedule AMT / AMTC	Alternate minimum tax u/s 115JC and the credit u/s 115JD.
Schedule PTI	Pass-through income from a business trust or investment fund.
Schedule FA / FSI / TR	Foreign assets, foreign source income and treaty relief.
Schedule GST	Turnover as reported in the GST returns.

Key dates for AY 2026-27

Assessment year 2026-27 covers the income you earned in the previous year 2025-26 — 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

1 April 2026Filing opens for AY 2026-27

31 August 2026Due date u/s 139(1)

31 December 2026Belated return u/s 139(4)

31 December 2026Revised return u/s 139(5)

A return filed after the due date attracts a late fee u/s 234F and interest u/s 234A, and losses other than house-property loss can no longer be carried forward. BharatTax computes 234A, 234B and 234C on the return itself, so the figure you see is the figure you pay.

How BharatTax prepares your ITR-5

A firm return is an accounts exercise before it is a tax one. BharatTax starts where the accounts end.

Import the financials

Trial balance or financial statements, mapped to the CBDT’s Part A schedule. For a CA firm, the client master supplies the entity identity, so it is entered once, not once per return.

Compute the business income

Schedule BP from the P&L, depreciation across the blocks, and the disallowances.

Apply the right rate

Flat 30% for a firm or LLP, the co-operative brackets or 115BAD at 22%, or the Section 167B route for a determinate AOP — picked from the assessee class, not typed in.

Test AMT and file

AMT u/s 115JC against the normal tax, surcharge and cess, interest u/s 234A/B/C, and the ITD JSON. Every download is checked against the CBDT’s own published schema file for ITR-5 before it reaches you, so a return the portal would reject is caught here instead.

ITR-5 — common questions

Does an LLP file ITR-5 even if it has no income?

Yes. A firm or LLP must file a return for every year regardless of income or loss, and a nil return is still a return. Filing also preserves the right to carry losses forward, which a belated return does not.

What rate does a partnership firm pay?

A flat 30% on total income, with surcharge at 12% where total income exceeds ₹1 crore, and cess at 4% on tax plus surcharge. There are no slabs and no rebate u/s 87A for a firm.

How is an AOP with determinate shares taxed?

Section 167B routes it to the individual slab rates where the members’ shares are known and none of them is taxable at a rate higher than the maximum marginal rate. Where the shares are indeterminate, the maximum marginal rate applies to the whole.

What is Section 115BAD for a co-operative society?

A concessional flat rate of 22% plus surcharge and cess, in exchange for giving up specified deductions and exemptions. The election is irrevocable: once a society opts in, it cannot return to the bracket rates.

Can a firm carry forward a loss if it files late?

Business loss and capital loss can only be carried forward if the return is filed within the due date u/s 139(1). A belated return preserves only the house-property loss and unabsorbed depreciation.

Firm and LLP returns, computed end to end

The right flat rate for the assessee class, AMT tested, the set-off sequence applied, and a validated JSON at the end.

Start your return Find my ITR form