Income Tax Department Releases Forms Under New Income Tax Act, 2025
The Income Tax Department recently released draft rules and forms on February 7, 2026, under the new Income Tax Act, 2025.
The new Income Tax Act, 2025, will be effective from April 1, 2025. The Income Tax Department also invited all stakeholders and the public to share their feedback on the draft Income-tax Rules, 2026, and the related forms before February 22. After reviewing these comments, the final rules and forms under the new Act will be notified.
The Income-tax Department said that the current Income-tax Rules, 1962, are very long and complex, with 511 rules and 399 forms. To make things easier, the proposed Income-tax Rules, 2026, have been rewritten by removing repeated and unnecessary provisions and combining similar rules. Because of this, the new draft has only 33 rules and 190 forms.
The department also said that the new income-tax forms are much simpler and more user-friendly. Common information has been standardised across forms, so taxpayers don’t have to provide the same details again and again, which will reduce paperwork and make tax compliance easier.
The Income Tax Department said, “Forms have been designed in a smart way so as to provide for automated reconciliation and also prefill capabilities so as to make filing more intuitive and less error-prone. These smart forms would considerably ease the filing and enhance the user experience.”
