Income-tax Act 2025: New Unified Forms to Transform Tax Compliance from April 2026

The Income-tax Act, 2025, effective from April 1, 2026, the tax administration framework has undergone a major transition with the introduction of new and unified compliance forms replacing the long-standing forms prescribed under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The revamped structure aims to simplify reporting requirements, digitise tax administration and standardise compliance procedures for taxpayers across categories.

Under the new regime, several commonly used forms relating to PAN applications, TDS reporting, tax credit statements and lower deduction certificates have either been replaced or consolidated into unified forms. The changes are expected to impact salaried employees, businesses, deductors, tax professionals and financial institutions.

One of the key changes is the replacement of PAN application Forms 49A and 49AA with the newly introduced Form 93. Similarly, the traditional TDS certificates, Form 16 for salary income and Form 16A for non-salary payments, have now been merged into a single unified Form 113.

The new compliance framework seeks to reduce duplication by introducing unified reporting formats under the Income Tax Act, 2025.

The Government has also replaced Form 26AS with Form 168, described as the Annual Tax Information Statement. The new form consolidates details relating to TDS, TCS, advance tax payments and specified financial transactions into a single reporting document.

Also, Form 13, used for lower or nil deduction certificates, has been renumbered as Form 128 under the new rules. In another significant move, Forms 26QB, 26QC, 26QD, and 26QE relating to property transactions, rent payments and specified deductions have been consolidated into a common Form 141.

The transition to the new forms is aimed at creating a simplified and technology-driven tax compliance ecosystem. Taxpayers and deductors are now required to familiarise themselves with the revised form structure to avoid reporting mismatches and compliance issues under the new law. Form 168 is expected to become the primary reference document for verification of tax credits, compliance records and financial transaction reporting under the new regime.

Therefore, the new Income-tax Act, 2025, marks a substantial shift in the tax reporting system by replacing legacy forms with standardised and unified compliance formats effective from April 1, 2026.