New Income Tax Rules 2026: The Income Tax Department is rolling out some big relief for taxpayers. Just before the Income Tax Act 2025 kicks in on April 1, the department has put out draft rules that suggest a complete overhaul of tax form numbering. The goal is to make ITR filing easier, cut down on confusion, and streamline compliance.
Experts think that the form numbers assigned over the years have caused a lot of duplication and confusion. The new numbering system will help align reporting with real-time data matching and analytics. However, companies, employers, tax pros, and IT systems will need to quickly update their software.
This new proposed framework will replace the 1962 rules that have been in place for the past six decades. The most significant feature of the new rules is that the old 511 rules have been reduced to just 323, making the entire system more understandable and compact. The government is striving to modernize tax administration and simplify the language to eliminate the hassle of interpretation during tax filing.
What changes are coming?
Tax Audit Report: The existing Forms 3CA, 3CB, and 3CD will be merged into Form 26.
Transfer Pricing Audit: Form 3CEB will now be Form 48.
MAT Certification: Form 29B will be renamed to Form 66.
MAT, which is a 15% tax on book profit (Section 115JB), applies when the normal tax is lower than this.
Tax Residency Certificate: Form 10FA will now be Form 42.
DTAA Disclosure: Form 10F will change to Form 41.
What about the TDS/TCS forms? Here’s the scoop:
Lower or Nil TDS Application: Form 128
Salary TDS Certificate: Form 130
Quarterly TDS Return:
24Q will become Form 138 (for Salary)
26Q will change to Form 140 (for Residents)
27Q will be updated to Form 144 (for Non-residents)
TCS Return: 27EQ will now be Form 143.
The reporting form is also getting a makeover:
The annual tax statement will now be called 26AS, which will be Form 168.
The Statement of Financial Transactions will change from 61A to Form 165.
The Foreign Remittance Declaration 15CA will be updated to Form 145.
Lastly, the CA Certificate for Remittance will be renamed from 15CB to Form 146.
Experts believe these changes will simplify return filing, clarify the valuation of income and property, and make the compliance framework more standardized. While system updates will be challenging initially, the process will become clearer and faster in the long run for both taxpayers and professionals.