Income Tax Act 2025: Updated ITR Forms and Rules to be Notified by January 2026

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman, Ravi Agrawal, on Monday said that the Income Tax Department will announce the ITR forms and the rules under the New Income Tax Act, 2025, by January 2026. The new act, which aims at simplifying the tax system by replacing the six-decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961, will be applicable from April 1, 2026.

By notifying the form and rules in advance, the department aims to give enough time to the taxpayers to adjust their systems and processes accordingly.

“We are in the process of designing forms and rules. We are working towards putting this in place by January so that taxpayers have sufficient time to adapt their processes within their system,” Agrawal said to the reporters after launching the Taxpayers’ Lounge at the India International Trade Fair.

The Income Tax Act, 2025, aims to simplify tax regulations by reducing complex words, making the legislation easier to read and understand. The Act does not introduce any new tax rates; it only aims to simplify the complex language.

The new law has removed the outdated language and unnecessary provisions, with the number of sections reduced from 819 to 536. The chapters have been reduced from 47 to 23, and the total words used in the law have been reduced from 5.12 lakh to about 2.6 lakh. Additionally, the new act has introduced 39 new tables and 40 new formulas.

To align with the new Act, the income tax department is revising all the forms used under the Income Tax Act, such as the quarterly TDS return forms and the ITR forms. The Directorate of Systems is working closely with the tax policy division to update these forms to be more user-friendly for the taxpayers.