The Central Government has officially notified the new Income-Tax Rules, 2026, through an Extraordinary Gazette of India notification, laying down a comprehensive set of forms that taxpayers, businesses and institutions will need to use for complying with the new Income-Tax Act, 2025 which comes into effect from April 1 this year.
New rules create stringer regulations around capital gains, stock exchange dealings and non-resident taxation while simplifying other disclosure mechanisms.
The notification, published as Part II, Section 3(i) of the Gazette of India (Extraordinary), introduces more than 150 official forms — numbered from Form 33 onwards — covering a wide range of tax-related activities.
In simple terms, these are the official documents that individuals and organisations will fill and submit while dealing with the Income Tax Department.
New IT Act replaces the 1961 legislation and offers incentives to shift to a new structure.
WHAT ARE THESE FORMS FOR?
The newly prescribed forms touch the daily tax lives of ordinary citizens as well as large corporations. For salaried employees and individuals, forms have been notified for claiming tax deductions — for instance, on salary arrears, gratuity, retrenchment compensation and pension. There are also updated forms for retirement benefit accounts and for claiming relief on foreign income.
For businesses, the notification covers forms related to Special Economic Zones (SEZ) deductions, additional employee cost claims, offshore banking units, and royalty income earned by authors and patentees. There is also a dedicated form (Form 38) to certify inward foreign remittances.
NEW HRA RULES
The new rules require people to disclose relationship with landlords in form 124. Under new rules eight cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru will have higher exemption limit of 50% of salary under HRA while other locations will have 40%.
TDS CERTIFICATES AND PAN/TAN APPLICATIONS REVISED
The rules prescribe new formats for TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) and TCS (Tax Collected at Source) certificates, as well as the quarterly TDS/TCS statements that employers and deductors are required to file. Taxpayers will receive their TDS certificates in the updated formats going forward.
Applications for Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN) have also been updated. The new forms — Forms 134 and 135 — must be used for any fresh applications or corrections in these identification numbers.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION MADE CLEARER
For taxpayers, who wish to contest a tax demand or seek clarification from the government, the notification lays down forms for filing appeals, applying for advance rulings, and accessing the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP). These are designed to make the grievance redressal process more structured and transparent.
MNC PRICING FORMS
Large corporations and multinational companies will need to file updated transfer pricing reports and documentation under the new rules. The notification prescribes forms for Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs), Safe Harbour rules, Mutual Agreement Procedures (MAP), Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR), and Master File submissions — all aimed at ensuring that cross-border transactions are reported at fair market prices to prevent tax avoidance.
