India's Income Tax Act 1961 is being replaced by the Income Tax Act 2025, effective 1 April 2026. This plain-language explainer walks through what is actually changing — the unified Tax Year concept, TDS consolidation, MAT as final tax — and what is not, so you can prepare without alarm.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget 2026 introduced several time-sensitive amendments — SGB capital gains, STT revisions, TDS rationalisation, and foreign asset disclosure. Here is what is relevant and when to act.
The Invoice Management System, live since October 2025, fundamentally changes how Input Tax Credit is accepted or rejected. ITC is now available only on invoices you have accepted in IMS — not merely on what appears in GSTR-2B.
Sec 43B(h) disallows deductions for payments to MSMEs made beyond the MSMED Act timeline. With AY 2026-27 assessments ahead, this article covers the buyer's verification obligations and Form 3CD clause 26(A) reporting.
The GSTAT Principal Bench became operational in late 2025 after years of delay. The e-filing portal accepts appeals from October 2025, with staggered filing permitted until June 2026. If you have pending High Court GST matters, this tells you what to do next.
Budget 2026 proposes a one-time scheme for small taxpayers who inadvertently missed foreign asset disclosures — covering dormant bank accounts, RSUs/ESOPs of foreign companies, and similar low-value assets.
Section 16(4) of the CGST Act sets a hard deadline for claiming Input Tax Credit — the earlier of 30 November of the following financial year or the date of filing GSTR-9. For FY 2025-26 invoices, that deadline is 30 November 2026.
Budget 2026 announced integration of Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) into Ind AS, eliminating the need for a separate ICDS computation from Tax Year 2027-28. This explains what ICDS currently does and what preparatory steps companies should take now.
With 31 March 2026 closing both FY 2025-26 and the era of the 1961 Act itself, there are more year-end actions than usual. This practical guide covers advance tax, TRACES correction, LUT renewal, Composition opt-in, loss harvesting, and decisions that cannot wait until April.