Form 10E

Definition

Form 10E is the statutory form for claiming tax relief under Section 89(1) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 when you receive salary in arrears or in advance, family pension arrears, gratuity, commuted pension, or compensation on voluntary retirement. Because arrears push your current year's income into a higher slab, Section 89(1) recalculates the tax as if the amounts had been taxed in the years they actually related to, and gives you relief for the difference.

Any individual registered on the e-filing portal can file it, and filing is mandatory if you claim Section 89(1) relief in your ITR. The critical rule: Form 10E must be submitted BEFORE you file your income tax return. If you claim the relief in your ITR without filing Form 10E, the return is still processed, but the relief is disallowed and you receive an intimation under Section 143(1) with a tax demand.

Form 10E is filed online only — there is no paper option. On incometax.gov.in, log in and go to e-File > Income Tax Forms > File Income Tax Forms, search for Form 10E, select the assessment year (AY 2026-27 for FY 2025-26 arrears), fill the relevant annexure (Annexure I for salary arrears/advance), and submit with e-verification. Your employer's Form 16 and the arrears break-up statement give you the year-wise figures you need.

Common pitfalls: selecting the wrong assessment year (choose the year in which you RECEIVED the arrears, not the years they relate to), filing 10E after the ITR, and forgetting that the relief must also be entered in the ITR itself — Form 10E alone does not reduce your tax.

Example

Ramesh received ₹3.2 lakh of 7th CPC pay arrears in FY 2025-26, so he filed Form 10E online before submitting his ITR to claim ₹18,400 relief under Section 89(1).

Calculators that use this

Related terms

• Form 16
• Self-Assessment Tax
• Old Tax Regime

More Tax terms

• Section 80G
• Section 80C
• Section 80CCD(1B)
• Section 80D

Sources

• Income Tax Department — Form 10E User Manual
• ClearTax — Filing Form 10E to Claim Section 89(1) Relief
• Tax2win — Tax Relief on Salary Arrears u/s 89 and Form 10E