- ‘Income-tax Act, 2025’ applicable in India from 1st April 2026
- It will replace the 60-year-old Income-tax Act, 1961
- What are the important changes in the new income tax law?
New Income Tax Rules 2025 : ‘Income-tax Act, 2025’ is going to be implemented in India from 1st April 2026. This new law will replace the nearly 60-year-old Income-tax Act, 1961. According to the central government, this is not just a change in the tax system but a process of modernizing and streamlining the entire law. The biggest relief is that there has been no change in tax slabs and tax rates. However, the process of tax reporting, disclosure and ITR filing will be stricter, digital and transparent than before. What important changes have been made in the new Income Tax Act, which you need to know.
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Big increase in Meal Benefits
As per the new rules, a major benefit has been given in the rule of ‘meal benefits’ for salaried employees. Now the limit of tax deduction on meal cards or vouchers from companies (eg Sodexo, Pluxee etc.) has been directly increased from Rs.50 to Rs.200 per meal. This will allow employees to get tax-free meal benefits of up to Rs 1 lakh per annum, which will increase their tax savings.
Expansion and stricter enforcement of HRA rules
The House Rent Allowance (HRA) rent rules have also been amended. Along with Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, the list of cities to get 50% HRA concession now includes Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad. To prevent fake claims, it is now mandatory to provide complete details of the householder while claiming HRA.
Instead of Form 16 now Form 130
A major administrative change is that companies will no longer issue ‘Form 16’ to employees. Instead ‘Form 130’ will now be given. This will make ITR filing completely system based. However, if there are any errors in TDS, refunds may be delayed, so more accuracy and clarity is needed.
PAN rules became stricter
Along with this, the rules related to PAN card have been made more stringent. Now it will be mandatory to give PAN card in high-value transactions like buying and selling of cars.
Choosing a tax regime made easy
The process of choosing New Tax Regime or Old Tax Regime is now simplified. Now there is no need to fill a separate form, you can choose your option while filing ITR itself.
In other words, this new law has not been introduced with the aim of increasing taxes, but to make the tax system more transparent, digital and accurate. The objectives of the Act include ‘faceless assessment’, reduction of human intervention and speedy processing of refunds. Consequently, it is very important for individuals to periodically review their Salary Structure, HRA details, Pan-Aadhaar linkage status and TDS information to avoid any potential issues that may arise in future.
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