look news india
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 abolished the 65 year old ‘Income Tax Act 1961’ forever and introduced a new one. ‘Income Tax Act 2025‘ Has been implemented. 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’ and ‘Assessment Year’. The new law has completely abolished this dual system. From 1st April onwards only ‘Tax Year’ (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 greatly simplified and the requirement of filling separate forms for those who do not come under the tax net has also been done away with.
New deadline and forms for ITR filing released
The Income Tax Department has released all 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 (ITR-1 and ITR-2): In cases without audit, the last date will remain 31st July.
Other Taxpayers: The last date for filing ITR for them has been extended to 31st August.
Audit matters: The deadline for the accounts to be audited has been fixed as October 31.
Strictness for HRA claimants, 4 new cities included in ‘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 may 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 PAN card and credit card rules
PAN card: Now Aadhaar Card alone will not be enough to get PAN card made. 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 through credit card or more than Rs 1 lakh in cash, then its information will go directly to the Income Tax Department.
Huge 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 Allowance: Education allowance for children has been 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 Discount: The limit of tax exemption on gift cards, vouchers or coupons received from companies has been increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 annually. This benefit will be available in both the old and new tax regime.
MACT Compensation: Whatever interest you will receive 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 trust became easier
Tax rules for non-profit organizations (NGOs) and trusts have been taken out of seven different sections of the old law and condensed into a single 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.