April 1 Financial Rule Changes highlights: ITR, PAN, salary structure set for major revisions

Form 130 is divided into three parts:

• Part A: Details of the employer or bank and the employee/senior citizen
• Part B: Summary of income paid, TDS deducted and other key tax details
• Part C: Complete computation of taxable income for the financial year

Part C further includes:

• Annexure I: For salaried employees (salary, exemptions, deductions, tax, etc.)
• Annexure II: For specified senior citizens (pension and interest income details)

Starting 1 April 2026, several major changes will come into force under India’s new tax framework. Form 130 will replace Form 16 as the primary TDS certificate for senior citizens and salaried employees.

The new financial year FY26-27 is set to begin from 1 April (tomorrow), and there may be some confusion over whether changes to the Income-Tax Act and updates to deductions under the old tax regime will impact your income tax returns this year.

Mint deconstructs the key points to be considered before choosing the new or old income tax regimes for taxpayers.

• Up to ₹4 lakh income is taxed at 0%
• Up to ₹8 lakh income is taxed at 5%
• Up to ₹12 lakh income is taxed at 10%
• Up to ₹16 lakh income is taxed at 15%
• Up to ₹20 lakh income is taxed at 20%
• Up to ₹24 lakh income is taxed at 25%
• Income above ₹24 lakh is taxed at 30%

• Up to ₹2.5 lakh income is taxed a0%
• Up to ₹5 lakh income is taxed at 5%
• Up to ₹10 lakh income is taxed at 20%
• Income above ₹10 lakh is taxed at 30%

No, changes in the new Income-Tax Act will not impact tax filings for FY26 but will come into effect when filing ITR in financial year 2026-27, i.e. in June 2027.

The implementation of lower TCS on overseas tour packages and on remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for medical and education purposes is aimed at helping the middle class.

TCS on overseas tour packages have been slashed to 2% from 20%,

while on remittance for medical and education purpose, the rate would be 2%, against 5% currently.

STT on futures contracts will rise to 0.05 per cent from 0.02 per cent, while STT on options premiums and exercise of options will be hiked to 0.15 per cent from the present rate of 0.1 per cent and 0.125 per cent, respectively.

The higher STT is aimed at curbing speculative bets being placed on shares in the F&O segment of equity markets and is intended to protect small investors from heavy losses in speculative trades.

The new income tax law and other budgetary provisions, including higher Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on F&O trade and lower TCS on overseas tour packages and LRS remittances for medical and education purposes, will come into effect from April 1.

From 1 April 2026, Form 130 will become the new standard for TDS reporting and submission for salaries and certain pension incomes. It aims to make tax filing easier and standardised. Here are key FAQs taxpayers should know.

The FASTag annual pass recharge can be done via the Rajmarg Yatra App or the official NHAI website.

Once the one-time fee is paid, the annual pass gets activated on the vehicle's existing FASTag within two hours.

With the new fee structure set to come into effect from 1 April, frequent commuters can complete the recharge at the old price today.

Under the revised fee structure, the cost of the FASTag annual pass will increase by ₹75, bringing the total from the current ₹3,000 to ₹3,075 from the start of the new financial year.

The new rate applies specifically to non-commercial vehicles that are equipped with a valid FASTag.

The pass can be used at approximately 1,150 fee plazas on National Highways and National Expressways nationwide.

Another tax benefit that salaried individuals will get is that of the meal vouchers, with the tax-free limit of coupons increasing. “The tax-free limit for Meal Vouchers (like Pluxee/Sodexo) is quadrupling from ₹50 to ₹200 per meal. If you get two meals a day, that’s a potential tax-free benefit of over ₹1.05 Lakh per year,” CA Kaushik noted.

CA Kaushik however clarified that there are added benefits that can help save taxes too.

“The tax-free limit for Interest-Free Loans from your employer is jumping 10x from a measly ₹20,000 to a much more realistic ₹2 Lakh. This is a huge win for employees taking small personal or emergency advances, as the “interest benefit” won’t be added to your salary unless you cross that new threshold,” Kaushik wrote.

The monthly valuation of company car perquisite (motor car) has been moved higher in the new Income Tax Rules, 2026, resulting in a higher tax outgo.

If your company has given you a car with an engine capacity of up to 1.6 litres, the taxable value of the prerequisite linked to the same has been moved higher from ₹1,800 to ₹5,000, marking a ₹3,200 increase. This is applicable when you take your company car for both official and personal use.

The Centre has kept the interest rates unchanged for the upcoming quarter of the financial year 2026-27. Notably, the government had last changed the interest rate on some small schemes, mainly operated by post offices and banks, in the fourth quarter of 2023-24 (i.e. January to March 2024).

For the April-June quarter, the monthly income scheme (MIS) will earn 7.4%. The maximum deposit limit is ₹9 lakh for a single account and ₹15 lakh for a joint account.

The interest rate on the National Savings Certificate (NSC) will stay at 7.7% for investors during the first quarter of the next fiscal.

There is no maximum limit, and the deposits qualify for I-T deduction.

The interest rate on the Kisan Vikas Patra will be 7.5%, and the investments will mature in 115 months. There is no maximum limit for deposits.

Interest rates for the post office savings deposit schemes is unchanged at 4%.

The account may be opened with minimum of ₹500 and has no maximum deposit limit.

Interest up to ₹10,000 qualifies for deduction under Section 80TTA of the Income-Tax Act.