The government on Friday officially notified the Income-tax Rules, 2026, providing the final regulatory framework for the landmark Income-tax Act, 2025. This notification marks the final step in India’s transition away from the 65-year-old tax law of 1961, with the new regime set to go live on April 1, 2026.
The notification, issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), confirms a massive structural overhaul. The new Act reduces the number of sections from over 800 to just 536 and cuts the number of chapters from 47 to 23.
The most significant change for taxpayers is the introduction of the “Tax Year.” The notification formally eliminates the confusing “Previous Year” and “Assessment Year” concepts. Under the 2025 Act, the year in which income is earned will also be the year in which it is computed and taxed, simplifying the filing process for millions.
According to Rajat Mohan, Senior Partner at AMRG & Associates, the notification introducing the Income-tax Rules, 2026 marks a significant structural step towards operationalising the newly enacted Income-tax Act, 2025.
“Spanning an extensive document of 1,000 pages, the rules constitute a highly detailed code comprising several hundred individual rules along with dozens of prescribed forms, reflecting the scale and depth of the new tax framework,” he said.
The rules provide critical procedural clarity across diverse areas, including the determination of fair market value, computation of income in cross-border structures, and conditions for the recognition of stock exchanges and financial instruments. Notably, the detailed framework for valuation of assets, especially in the context of indirect transfers and foreign entities—demonstrates a clear policy intent to strengthen anti-avoidance provisions while aligning with internationally accepted valuation standards.
Further, provisions relating to Significant Economic Presence thresholds, dividend declaration norms, and zero-coupon bond notifications indicate a calibrated approach towards digital taxation, corporate governance, and infrastructure financing.
The strong emphasis on documentation, audit trails, and periodic reporting signals a compliance-intensive regime.
Major hikes in allowances
For salaried employees, the notification brings long-awaited revisions to tax-exempt allowances, many of which had not been updated for decades:
Children’s Education Allowance: Increased from Rs 100 per month to Rs 3,000 per month
Hostel Expenditure Allowance: Raised from Rs 300 to Rs 9,000 per month
HRA Benefits: Four new cities—Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad—have been added to the 50% HRA exemption category, joining the existing four metros
Meal Vouchers: The exemption for employer-provided meals has been increased from Rs 50 per meal to Rs 200 per meal
Personal certification
The rules introduce a major change in who can certify tax positions. For the first time, professional qualification (CA) alone is not sufficient for complex certifications such as fair market valuations or transfer pricing.
The notification mandates “hard thresholds”, practitioners must have at least 10 years of experience. Individual professionals must have annual receipts exceeding Rs 50 lakh, while firms must exceed Rs 3 crore.
Foreign professionals are also recognised, provided they meet similar experience and revenue criteria and belong to firms with a presence in more than two countries.
Digital push and compliance
The 2026 Rules formalise a digital-first approach. Form No. 130 will replace the iconic Form 16 for salary TDS, and several property-related TDS forms (26QB, 26QC, etc.) have been consolidated into a single Form No. 141.
The notification also tightens the window for correcting errors. Deductors now have only two years, down from six to submit TDS/TCS correction statements, underscoring the government’s push for real-time compliance and faster processing.
With the notification now published in the Gazette, the Income-tax Department is expected to roll out updated e-filing utilities by early April. Tax experts suggest that while the 2025 Act simplifies language, the new “hard thresholds” for certification and the shift to daily electronic record-keeping signify a significantly higher compliance burden in the modern era.