Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman, Ravi Agrawal, has said that new income tax forms, implementing rules and a detailed set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) will be published soon this month to prepare taxpayers transition to the new Income Tax Act, 2025, which takes effect on April 1. He said that explanatory presentations will be done along with FAQs to help manage an expected surge in queries during the initial implementation quarter from April through June.
“We will be issuing the new income tax forms and rules within February. They will be opened for stakeholder consultation before the new Income Tax Act of 2025 gets implemented from April 1, 2026,” Agrawal said at a post-Budget event. Direct tax proposals announced in the Union Budget 2026-27 is part of a continuing effort to simplify India’s tax framework, he added.
The reform process began in July 2024 when the Government announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, and initially simplified language and improved readability to reduce multiple interpretations and litigation. The second phase of reforms, introduced through the latest Budget, proposed structural changes to tax provisions to improve clarity and ease compliance before the new Act comes into effect.
Decriminalisation of certain prosecution provisions, immunity from penalties in select cases, simplified compliance procedures and reduced litigation burden formed part of these reforms. According to the CBDT, these steps are intended to strengthen tax administration while lowering compliance costs and improving taxpayer services.
