ITR-2 Excel Utility for AY-2025-26, My Update on using it

Posting the other thread link which has some more tips on the bugs, just in case if helps  https://www.caclubindia.com/forum/itr-2-foreign-asset-details-not-editable-in-excel-utility-525271.asp?offset=1 

@ Krishnamurthy B.

Thanks for that detailed post. Welcome aboard! All of us are now the unhired team of beta (alpha?) testers of this utility with (compliance) dreams in our hearts & (refund) stars in our eyes. :p

Since you have been successful in generating the JSON, I would request you to upload it on the IT portal. Mere successful upload does not equate to submission. If the upload is successful, it only means the portal validated your JSON & it is allowed to move ahead in the submission pipeline. You can still choose to discard the file by clicking the "X" icon beside the file name. Also, even if you actually wanted to proceed ahead with the filing, you still have to click the "Proceed to Verification" button at the right bottom of the upload page. All these can also be used to abort the process.

So, if possible, please try uploading and let us know if you are facing any errors because I too am able to generate JSON but the upload has consistently failed for me (tried different Excel versions - both pre-filled and manually) with the validation fail error "Null".  If you are successful, you can always abort the process and then do your SAT thing and reupload.

Thanks.

@ Cs26kit

Important.

Take a look at the link given by @ Rahul, who has already filed using the utility.

So all would need to beg or borrow or buy a new powerful machine with Windows 11 [64Bit] and MSOffice 2025 [64Bit] to handle an Excel 32Bit file. 

Or wait for the Java utility or online. 

@ Ranjan

Thanks. I'll ask few questions to @ Rahul. No access to Office 2025 though. I hope Infy doesn't demand nVidia RTX 5090 OC GPU as the basic minimum specs next time.

@ Ranjan

The compile issue for module "GenerateJson" seems to be mainly a 32-bit Excel issue, since 
the laptop on which it worked for me is a 2-yr old Lenovo E480 still running Win-10 64-bit OS... My older laptop (Lenovo E470) is also running the same Win-10 64-bit OS. The only major software diff between the one on which it worked and the one on which the compile error occurred, is in the MS 365 (MS Office) version... The newer laptop has the 64-bit version of MS 365, while my older laptop has 32-bit version of MS 365. (Had opted for the 32-bit version of MS 365 for my older laptop long ago because some old files with VBA code were not working properly with the 64-bit version then. Forgot all about updating it to 64-bit later as I never faced any issues with the 32-bit version till now).
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So, I don't think you have to worry about buying a new computer for this issue if yours already has Win-10 64 bit and you can get Excel 64-bit installed on it.  I can't tell which release of Excel (2016 or 2024, etc.) is needed as a minimum, as my Excel is not standalone; it is part of the MS 365 suite. Not sure which version of standalone Excel it is equivalent to...
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FYI for anyone not knowing about MS365, it is said to be a server-based software that is automatically maintained up-to-date by Microsoft... but it does have a download component to it that lets the software run on your computer while disconnected from the Internet.
No purchase of new versions of the software is needed; pay only an annual subscripttion fee.
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Downside - although I can operate on my files while disconnected from Internet for a while, it starts complaining if it can't connect to Microsoft Server for a few days.  (At one time Excel refused to open files till I connected and logged into my Microsoft Account again.)
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Cost -  MS 365 subscripttion costs about ₹6,200 per annum for a license that can be shared with 5 other people (each must have a Microsoft Account), and each of the 6 people sharing a license can install the software and sign in concurrently on upto 5 devices.
MS 365 includes Word, Powerpoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access DB, etc. in addition to Excel. All of these utilities are available to all 6 people sharing a license on their 5 devices each... 
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If you are a Business, instead of a low-grade personal-user like me, there may even be better options,  but for me, it is worth the annual subscripttion cost to get MS 365 instead of buying local-install versions of Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc., for all my family members...
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Krish.

@ CS26Kit

Ok sir... you have reassured me about trying to upload my Json to IT Portal.  Have to go shopping right now... So, sorry, have to wait till I get back... Will do it by tonight and give an update on how it goes... 

Krish.

@ Cs26kit

@ Ranjan

Good news !!  The Json file generated using the 64-bit Excel (part of MS 365 64-bit) has uploaded without issues on the Income Tax Portal !! 
First time I uploaded, the server gave a Validation error saying that in Sch 112A, for rows where Share Acquired On option selected is "After 31-Jan-2018", columns "No of Shares" and "Sale Price per Share" should be 0, and only column "Full Value of Consideration" can have a non-0 value.  So, the Json was rejected for this reason (but with a pretty clear & detailed error message displayed). 
My data in Sch 112A for LTCG shares had only 2 rows - both bought "After 31-Jan-2018", but 1 sold before and one sold after 23-Jul-2024 (date after which LTCG rates changed). 
When originally entering the data in Sch 112A, although I selected "After 31-Jan-2018" for "Acquired On" in both rows, the ITR-2 macro did not disable columns ISIN Code, No of Shares, Price per Share, etc., in the rows, nor enabled "Full Value of Consideration" for manual entry. So, I was forced to enter sale details in both rows. The Excel had validated the data fine with these rows containing details which the IT Portal validation later rejected.
Now, after the rejection from IT Portal, I re-edited the ITR-2 Excel and in Sch 112A, toggled the "Acquired On" selection in both rows to "Before..." and back to "After 31-Jan-2018".
This time, the columns "ISIN", "Number of Shares", etc., got disabled, and "Full Value of Consideration" got enabled for data entry in both rows... 
So, entered "Consideration" amounts in both rows, Validated, Calculated Tax, and Generated & Saved Json afresh, and uploaded it to the IT Portal. 
This revised Json was Validated successfully by the IT Portal !!
I had the option to upload the Json and proceed to Verification, but I chose not to... 
Will pay the due Self-Assessment Tax, enter the Pmt details in the Excel, generate a new Json and upload that tomorrow.  Am reasonably confident that the final Json upload will work..
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By the way, the Sch 112A data entry issue described above is just like the problem in many other places in this Excel utility... Quite often, the macros to auto-update totals, or to enable /disable fields or options, or to make other consequent changes in the Excel based on a data selection or entry, just fail to trigger !!  One has to repeat some actions multiple times before the auto-update macros trigger...  This is a pretty crazy issue that should have been caught by Infosys or Income Tax Dept's QA team... !!
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However, one caveat to the above...
I saw the above problem of failed macro triggering only on my old Laptop with the 32-bit version of Excel (MS 365) installed.  These issues may not occur when using the 64-bit verison of Excel...   When filling up the ITR for my other family members, will start data entry on my new laptop itself, and see if the above issue occurs with 64-bit Excel as well or not...

In any case, looking forward to tomorrow being better for my ITRs than the last few days.
Hope it's good for you and other participants here as well...

@ Krishnamurthy B

Thank you very much for testing this out. This means, as far as I am concerned, I am doing something really wrong or I have to use yet another Excel version.

Will you please check and answer these quesitons?

1  Did you keep all the Schedules enabled while filling the Utility? (Just want to make sure if that makes any difference.)

2  Did you use pre-filled data or entered manually?

3  Please make a backup copy of your folder so the original stays safe and try this in it. Press Generate JSON & tell us what does the SUMMARY sheet say? Its the sheet that is temporarily created as the last sheet in the file where the Save JSON button is present. Does it correctly show all the Schedules that you selected (especially CG, OS, TI-TTI) with their corresponding amounts ?(For many the amount is shown as NA. Few schedules are missing & others end up in the Empty schedules group.)

Thanks.

IT excell utility keeps asking for salary details which is not applicable to me. Also the utility keeps hanging very often. I have latest version of windows and excell software.

Whenever Infosy does anything, like MCA site ir IT site, chaos is a must.

Sridhar V Rao

@ Krishnamurthy B.

Good morning and thanks for once again spending time on rechecking the utility and for posting a detailed feedback on the outcome.

@ Cs26kit has already asked 3 very pertinent questions against your feedback of today, dated 17-07-2025. 

I am requesting you to reconfirm the following:-

1. The Utility [32 Bit Macro Enabled Excel File] worked reasonably only on your new Lenovo E480 laptop with MSWin 10 [64Bit] and MS365 [64Bit].
2. The Utility did not work on MSWin 10 [64Bit] with MS365 [32 Bit]
3. You needed to keep all the Schedules YES [enabled] even though you did not need all of them [As @ Rahul mentioned] -- Cs26kit already asked this, sorry for repeat.
4. Prefetching any data is not working. Everytime, data needed to be manually entered.
5. You had to fool the Macro by manually entering some data which actually does not have any relavance, and then change the same. [As highlighted by @ Rahul].
6. Please reconfirm, that in Sch 112A, for LTCG, the Utility is allowing manual date entries [DD/MM/YYYY] in the cells with drop down selections of BEFORE/AFTER.
7. Please reconfirm that, in your case, unlike for Cs26kit a few times, the macro did the correct summation/calculation of data from all Schedules and fetched the same into Sch TI - TIS. Or did you have to do some repeat efforts to get correct values into TI-TIS ?

Thanks again. All of us would await your updates.

Sorry to barge in the discussion with separate issue. 

Why didn't they release Java Utility?, Don't use Windows but Linux. Excel utility needs MS Office, licensed! So Open Office etc useless. 

Very disappointed.

@ Kiran Baliyan

Very valid question.

Why not highlight to the Fin Minister through X [ formerly Twitter].

I myself cannot because I do not have X [formerlyTwitter] account

I did, wonder if that helps. Thanks.

@ Ranjan

Whenever there is a massive overhaul of the ITR forms, there should be a centralized site for users to report bugs that are published for all (keeping the user details anonymous). Others can upvote it if faced with similar issues. 

The Devs can converse with the reporting user in private but publish the solutions in public.

This will not only help the Users & Devs but will also expose the Devs in case they do a shoddy job. As of now, the reports of problems are gleaned from and reported by using X and by forums like this. The "Grievance" mechanism is private 1 to 1 and doesn't help others. Something like Github bug reporting will speed up the debugging process.

As I mentioned earlier it is pointless for me to waste any  more time especially since I am doing it for someone else. Online filing or Java standaolne utility may be the savior. 

@ Cs26kit

I agree. Spent almost 60 hours, you and me on this exercise without any light at the end.

Hope Java offline utility, if it comes, would not be equally buggy.

Because I remember the Infosys taking over the contract and even Java utility was buggy first. That year, no excel utilities released.