Income Tax New Rules: 65 year old income tax law ended from April 1! Changed rules of PAN, HRA and ITR, know the effect on your pocket

New Delhi: If you pay tax or are thinking of filing ITR in future, then this news is very important for you. A historic change has come into effect in the country’s tax system from April 1, 2026. The government has implemented the new ‘Income Tax Act 2025’, abolishing the 65-year-old ‘Income Tax Act 1961’ forever. The direct objective of this new law is to eliminate the complexities related to tax and make the rules transparent for the common man. Let us know about those big changes related to PAN card (PAN), House Rent Allowance (HRA), ITR filing and credit card which will have a direct impact on your financial life from today. The hassle of ‘Assessment Year’ is over, now only ‘Tax Year’. Common taxpayers were always confused between ‘Financial Year’ (Financial Year) and ‘Assessment Year’ (Assessment Year). The new law has completely abolished this dual system. From April 1, now only the ‘Tax Year’ system will be applicable. This simply means that tax will be calculated on the income in the same year. Apart from this, the tax language has been made very simple and the requirement of filing separate forms for those who do not come under the tax net has also been removed. New deadlines and forms for ITR filing released. Income Tax Department has released all the ITR forms (ITR-1 to 7 and ITR-U) for the assessment year 2026-27 (FY 2025-26). Along with this, clarity has also been brought in the last dates for filing returns: Employed people (ITR-1 and ITR-2): In unaudited cases, the last date will remain 31st July. Other taxpayers: For these, the last date for filing ITR has been made 31st August. Audited cases: For those accounts which are to be audited, the deadline has been fixed as 31st October. Strictness for those making HRA claims, 4 new cities ‘Metro’ If you have been saving tax by submitting fake rent receipts, then be careful now. Under the new rules, it has been made mandatory to provide the landlord’s PAN number and solid proof of rent to claim HRA. In some suspicious cases, complete details of the landlord can also be sought. Relief news: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad have now been included in the list of ‘metro cities’. This means that now employed people living in these cities will also be able to claim up to 50% of their basic salary as HRA exemption (which was earlier 40%) like Delhi and Mumbai. Big change in the rules of PAN card and credit card. PAN Card: Now only Aadhaar Card will not be enough to get a PAN card. For this, forms will have to be filled according to different categories (like Form 93 for common people, Form 94 for companies etc.) and additional documents will have to be given. Giving PAN on big transactions is now completely mandatory. Credit Card: If you make a transaction of more than Rs 10 lakh online or more than Rs 1 lakh in cash through credit card, then its direct information will go directly to the Income Tax Department. Tremendous discounts on gifts, allowances and accident claims. The government has also given many big reliefs to the employed and common people in the new tax act: Children’s Allowance: Education for children. The allowance has been directly increased from Rs 100 to Rs 3,000 per month. At the same time, hostel allowance has increased from Rs 300 to Rs 9,000 per month. Gift Voucher Exemption: The limit of tax exemption on gift cards, vouchers or coupons received from companies has been increased from Rs 5,000 annually to Rs 15,000. This benefit will be available in both the old and new tax regimes. MACT Compensation: Whatever interest will be received on the compensation received from the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), will now be completely tax free. No TDS will be deducted on this. Registration of religious and social trusts has become easier. Tax rules for non-profit organizations (NGOs) and trusts have been removed from seven different sections of the old law and condensed into just one new section ’17-B’. Now temporary registration will be done through a centralized system. Trusts which are not availing tax exemption will be able to easily cancel their registration as per their wish.