New Income Tax Act: I-T Dept issues draft rules, seeks feedback from stakeholders - What taxpayers should know

The Income Tax Department has issued draft rules and forms under the new Income Tax Act, 2025, aimed at simplifying provisions, reducing compliance burdens, and making the rules more accessible and taxpayer-friendly.

The Income Tax Act, 2025, will replace the over 60-year-old Income Tax Act of 1961 and will take effect from 1 April.

Here are key points every taxpayer should know —

What must taxpayers do now?

Through the latest release, the Income Tax Department has invited feedback from stakeholders on the draft Income Tax Rules, 2026.

The department urged all stakeholders and members to go through the draft rules and forms and provide their feedback.

When is the last date to submit feedback?

The draft rules and forms will be open for a 15-day period from the date of release. The feedback portal will be open for comments till 22 February 2026, as per the announcement.

“The draft rules and forms shall remain in public domain for a period of 15 days, i.e. up to 22 February 2026,” the I-T department said.

What key changes should taxpayers expect?

From 511 rules to 333 rules

The Income Tax Rules, 1962, consist of 511 rules and 399 forms. With the proposed updates in the new draft rules and forms, such as removing redundancies and consolidating rules, the draft Income Tax Rules, 2026, now include 333 rules and 190 forms, according to the I-T department, which is inviting stakeholder comments.

Update on income tax forms

In terms of the new income tax forms, it said they have been simplified to a large extent for the ease of taxpayers. Standardisation of common information has been implemented across the forms to reduce the compliance burden on taxpayers.

"Forms have been designed in a smart way so as to provide for automated reconciliation and also prefill capabilities so as to make filing more intuitive and less error-prone. These smart forms would considerably ease the filing and enhance the user experience," it said.

The language of the forms has also been simplified to avoid any operational, administrative, or legal ambiguity, it said.

Simplification of provisions

The changes in the rules aim to simplify provisions, making them easier to understand and comprehend. These proposed process simplifications will enhance the ease of living and doing business for all taxpayers, the I-T department said.

What other tools has the IT department provided?

In addition to the new draft rules and forms, two navigators are provided to guide stakeholders and the public, which include one showing the mapping of the old rules to the new draft rules, and the other showing the mapping of the old forms to the new draft forms.