A few months ago, the Income Tax Department released a useful brochure detailing the relevant tax provisions which senior citizens (over 60 years) and super senior citizens (over 80 years) should know about.

What are the latest income tax slabs for senior citizens and super senior citizens for AY 2025-26 and AY 2026-27?
Chartered Accountant Suresh Surana says that for assessment Years (AY) 2025–26 and 2026–27, taxpayers, including senior citizens, can choose between the old tax regime and the new tax regime.

While the old regime offers higher basic exemption limits and allows for various deductions and exemptions, the new regime offers concessional tax rates but there is a restriction on exemptions and deductions. The income tax slabs differ on the basis of the age of the individual under the old regime, specifically for senior citizens (aged 60 years or more but less than 80 years) and super senior citizens (aged 80 years or above). In contrast, under the new regime, the same slab rates apply uniformly to all individuals, regardless of age.

With barely three days to go for the September 15 deadline to file income tax returns (ITRs), taxpayers are facing glitches and have taken to social media to give vent to their frustration.

Key e-filing platforms — Annual Information Statement (AIS), Form 26AS, and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS )— have been intermittently down, unable to service request due to higher than normal volume.

Last year, 7.28 crore ITRs were filed by July 31, 2024. This year filings have been slow. By September 11, only 5.47 crore returns were filed.

The TRACES portal has also been down since September 11, leaving many taxpayers and professionals unable to access Form 26AS, download TDS certificates, or verify tax credits.

Will the Income Tax Department extend the last date to file income tax return (ITR) for the assessment year 2025-26? Crores of taxpayers are asking this question. The answer to this question might disappoint them if they are expecting another extension.

Considering the ITR filer numbers till September 8, the income tax return filing process is going on smoothly even though there are some complaints from tax professionals and individual taxpayers about technical glitches and other issues.

Number of ITRs filed till September 8
With 6 more days to go for the deadline, the number of income tax return filers has already crossed the 5-crore mark and this figure is on expected lines for the tax department. Of these 5 crore ITRs, the government has processed more than 3.39 crore tax returns.

ITR filing deadline 2025: With just days remaining for the September 15 deadline, the Income Tax Department’s portal shows a sluggish pace in Income Tax Return (ITR) filings for FY 2024-25, even as calls for an extension grow louder. As of September 7, only 4.89 crore ITRs had been filed out of 13.35 crore registered individual users. Of these, 4.63 crore returns were verified and just 3.35 crore processed, according to official data. The deadline applies to individual taxpayers and those whose accounts do not require audits.

Trade Bodies Seek Extension Amid Portal Glitches
Multiple trade and professional bodies have formally requested the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to extend the filing date, citing systemic delays and technical issues. The Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FKCCI) and the Chartered Accountants Association, Surat (CAAS), both pointed to the late release of ITR utilities and frequent portal glitches as major concerns. “The compliance load is unusually high this year,” CAAS said in a statement.

On September 1, the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society (BCAS) wrote to the CBDT asking for an extension across ITR filing, tax audits, and Transfer Pricing deadlines, citing unresolved system errors. The next day, the Tax Bar Association, Bhilwara, representing chartered accountants, tax advocates, and consultants, flagged persistent mismatches in Annual Information Statement (AIS), Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS), and Form 26AS. They also reported repeated login failures and timeouts during peak usage hours.

The Income Tax Department has issued an advisory saying that you can only file TDS and TCS correction statements for Q4 of FY 2018-19 to Q3 of FY 2023-24, until March 31, 2026. So, if your bank, employer, property buyer, or anyone else deducted the wrong TDS or deposited the right TDS amount with incorrect details in the challan, you need to ask for a correction by March 31, 2026 . After that date, you will lose your TDS credit and will have to pay tax again. If you don’t settle your tax liability, you may end up receiving a tax notice. What did the Income Tax Department say about the TDS correction statement? These are the details as per the official Income Tax Advisory: The Income Tax Act 1961 stands repealed w.e.f 01.04.2026 by virtue of section 536 of Income Tax Act 2025. Further, as per Section 397(3)(f) of Income Tax Act, 2025, deductor/collector may deliver a correction statement in such form and verified in such manner as may be prescribed, to the prescribed authority within two years from the end of the tax year in which such statement is required to be delivered under the said clauses or under section 200 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Consequent to the above, correction statements for FY 2018-19 (Qtr. 4), FY 2019-20 to 2022-23 (Qtr. 1 to Qtr. 4) and FY 2023-24 (Qtr. 1 to Qtr. 3) shall be accepted only up-to 31st March 2026. The same are time barred by limitation on 31.03.2026 and would not be accepted from 01.04.2026 onwards.

With the Income Tax Return (ITR) deadline of September 15, 2025, a few days from now, the Income Tax (I-T) Department has made available Excel Utilities for filing updated returns in ITR-5, ITR-6 and ITR-7 forms for the AYs 2021-22 and 2022-23. According to the Income Tax Department website, “Excel Utilities for filing updated returns in ITR-5, 6 and ITR-7 for the AYs 2021-22 and 2022-23 as per Finance Act, 2025 are available now for filing.” These forms are available on the Income Tax Department’s website from September 6, 2025. ITR Form 5 is used by firms, LLPs, Association of Persons, business trusts and investment funds. ITR Form 6 is used by companies, while ITR Form 7 is used by specified companies.

Section 54 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 allows a taxpayer who has sold a residential house property to avoid paying income tax if they purchase another residential property within a certain timeframe. Using the benefit of this section, in the financial year 2015-16, Saroj sold her house in Punjabi Bagh, a locality in West Delhi, for Rs 2.7 crore, and used Rs 2.55 crore to purchase seven residential house units in Greater Noida. After that she showed her income as Rs 5 lakh in her Income Tax Return (ITR) and Rs 2.2 crore as tax exemption amount under Section 54.

Essentially Saroj took advantage of this tax rule (Section 54) and claimed a long term capital gains (LTCG) tax exemption of Rs 2.2 crore crore and thus she had to pay no income tax. However, she soon got into trouble with the income tax department.

The income tax officer said that the language used in the Section 54 law back then was that a person can get tax exemption for selling house property if he/she buys "a residential property" using the capital gains. The income tax officer said the phrase "a residential property" can't mean that she can claim tax exemption for the seven house units purchased by her by using the capital gains from the Punjabi Bagh property sale.

The passage of the New Income Tax Act, 2025 is a landmark development towards building a streamlined, simplified tax framework aimed at enhancing transparency, equity, and economic efficiency. Enacted by Parliament after intensive deliberation, the legislation reflects the Government of India’s commitment to modernizing the tax architecture in alignment with global best practices and domestic aspirations. By simplifying tax slabs, rationalizing exemptions, and integrating digital compliance mechanisms, the Act seeks to reduce administrative burdens while fostering a culture of voluntary compliance.

To modernize and simplify India’s outdated tax laws, the government announced a comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act, 1961. This led to the introduction of the Income-tax Bill, 2025, which was referred to a Select Committee of Parliament for detailed examination. After receiving extensive recommendations and suggestions from stakeholders, the government decided to withdraw the original Bill and introduce a revised version - The Income-Tax (No. 2) Bill, 2025. This updated Bill incorporated most of the committee’s inputs along with improvements in legal clarity and drafting. It was passed by both Houses of Parliament in the monsoon session and now forms the foundation of India’s new tax framework

From Complexity to Clarity: Rationale Behind the New Income Tax Act

The Income-tax Act, 1961 was introduced to replace the earlier 1922 legislation, based on recommendations from the Law Commission (1958) and the Direct Tax Administration Enquiry Committee.

Here are the factors contributing to the complexity of India's Income-tax Act, 1961:

Extensive Amendments: The Act has been amended nearly 65 times with more than 4000 amendments over six decades through annual Finance Acts and 19 separate Taxation Laws Amendment Bills. While these changes were intended to keep the law relevant, they significantly increased its length and complexity.


Numerous Exemptions and Deductions: Over the years, the Act was repeatedly amended to include various exemptions and deductions to support socio-economic goals, such as encouraging savings, boosting exports, promoting balanced growth, and advancing social equity. These provisions included benefits for export income, investments in specific sectors or regions, and spending on rural development.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday extended the timelines for income tax exemption available to sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and pension funds by six years.

The move allows these long-term global investors to claim benefits on eligible investments made in India till March 31, 2030. Earlier, the Department of Revenue had formalised a similar extension through a notification in July, following up on an announcement first made in the Union Budget earlier this year.

Under Section 10(23FE) of the Income Tax Act, introduced in 2020, notified SWFs and pension funds are exempted from paying tax on dividends, interest, and long-term capital gains arising from their investments in specified infrastructure businesses, subject to certain conditions.

The scheme, effective from April 1, 2020, was designed to attract large, stable pools of capital into critical infrastructure projects in India.

Income Tax Return filing deadline for AY 2026-27: With just 17 more days to go for the last date to file tax returns for the assessment year 2026-27 (financial year 2024-25), chartered accountants are urging the Income Tax Department to extend the deadline further. The Chandigarh Chartered Taxation Association (CCATAX) has reportedly requested the tax department to give some additional time for ITR filing and tax audit for FY2024-25.

The central government in May this year announced extending the tax return filing due date to September 15 from July 31, 2025. Remember, the deadline was extended only for individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), and others whose accounts do not need auditing.

Now, the CCATAX has reportedly asked for another deadline extension, citing technical glitches, data mismatch between AIS and Form 26AS, server crash, session timeouts and other issues.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has amended its internal instructions dated August 18, 2025, regarding the Black Money Act, 2015. According to the said instructions prosecution proceedings under Section 49/50 would not be initiated in cases where penalty under Section 42/43 is not imposed or is ‘imposable’.

In simpler terms it means if someone doesn’t disclose foreign assets (excluding immovable property) valued up to Rs 20 lakh in total, he/she won’t face penalties under Sections 42 and 43, and also won’t be prosecuted under Sections 49 and 50.

This internal instruction circular about amended rules for the Black Money law, referenced in this article (F. No. 285/46/2021-IT(Inv.V)/88) dated August 18, 2025, is not available in public domain. ET Wealth Online has verified the authenticity of this circular through its sources. None of the information from the circular reported in this article has been altered or edited.

Income tax news: Personal income tax collections have surpassed corporate taxes for the first time in India’s history. According to a report by JM Financial Institutional Securities, this is because of formalisation, digitisation and stronger compliance mechanisms.

Personal Tax Share up
The share of personal income tax in total direct taxes has gone up sharply from 38.1% in FY14 to 53.4% in FY24. Corporate tax collections have come down from 61.9% to 46.6% over the same period.

India’s direct tax compliance has undergone a huge change in the last decade. Number of individual income tax return filers has gone up 2.3 times, from 30.5 million in FY14 to 69.7 million in FY23. When including those who pay tax through TDS without filing returns, the taxpayer base has nearly doubled from 53.8 million to 99.2 million.

Mauritian Minister of Financial Services and Economic Planning, Jyoti Jeetun, is in India and had an interview with TOI, talking on several issues from trade to the tax treaty between the two countries.

On being asked about India and Mauritius signing CEPA during global tensions, Jeetun said trade of goods is an important part of the CEPA, while trade in services is still being fine tuned.

"Mauritius is a small country, a small island, but with huge potential in terms of our connections with Africa. We see Mauritius to be a bridge between India and Africa and it gives wider access to the continent of Africa," she said, adding that they hope to work together and tap into opportunities, given India's growing economy.

About the tax treaty, Jeetun said the DTAA (double taxation avoidance agreement) was amended and there is a protocol in place, which has not been ratified yet. However, she remained confident that it will be closed in a short time. "I am very hopeful that we will conclude small fine tunings with the Indian govt in the very short period."

Income Tax Return (ITR) Filing Due Date AY 2025-26 Latest Updates (August 25): With only 21 more days to go before the income tax return (ITR) deadline comes to an end, the total number of ITRs filed for AY 2025-26 (FY2024-25) has not even reached 50% of the overall returns filed last financial year. Taxpayers in AY 2025-26 will file returns for the income earned in the financial year 204-25. Over 9 crore income tax returns were filed last year (for financial year 2023-24), according to official data.

Total ITRs filed and processed so far this year
According to the Income Tax Department’s website, as of August 25, 2025, a total of 3,67,94,801 income tax returns (ITRs) have been filed. Of them, 3,54,25,015 returns are verified and 2,29,72,011 ITRs processed by the department.

What is the ITR filing due date this year?
The central government in May this year announced an extension in the ITR filing deadline for the AY 2025-26. Taxpayers whose accounts do not require any audit can now file their ITR till 15 September 2025. In this category, most of them are salaried people. The earlier due date to file ITR was July 31. Those whose accounts need an audit have time till October 31 to meet their tax-filing obligation.

Receiving gifts at weddings is pretty standard in India. However, getting Rs 4.31 lakh in cash as son's wedding gifts a month before the wedding date led to tax issues for Manubhai, father of a recently married son. The income tax assessing officer said that these cash gifts were allegedly received almost a month before the actual wedding, which goes against the norm of receiving such gifts on or after the wedding day. The tax department accused him of not fully disclosing his full and true income.

Manubhai tried to prove that his son’s marriage was real and even submitted the entire list of guests who gave cash gifts. He also submitted the wedding invitation card and marriage certificate, but the tax officer remained unconvinced, leading to the rejection of his claims and the addition of unexplained income amounts. The tax department said that he had Rs 18.51 lakh in unexplained income, which included Rs 14.2 lakh from contract work and Rs 4.31 lakh from unexplained marriage gifts of his son.

Initially, he filed an appeal against this order of the tax officer with the commissioner of appeals (CIT Appeals), but lost the case. Subsequently, he filed an appeal in ITAT Ahmedabad. On August 12, 2025, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Ahmedabad bench granted relief to Manubhai. Thus, his appeal was allowed by ITAT Ahmedabad and he won the case.

The Income Tax department is working on simplified I-T forms and aims to notify new rules by December-end to give effect to the new I-T Act, which will come into force from April 1 next year, a senior tax official said on Monday.

Talking to PTI, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) member (Legislation) RN Parbat also said the department will come out with a fresh set of FAQs on the new Income Tax Act and come out with SoPs and guidance notes.

President Droupadi Murmu, on August 21, gave her assent to the Income-tax Act, 2025, which will replace the archaic Income Tax Act, 1961. The law was passed by Parliament on August 12.

Explaning the next set of processes before the income tax department, Parbat said CBDT is already working on formulating new rules and educating taxpayers, as well as capacity building of its officers, so that they are in a position to understand and enforce the new Act.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is gearing up to ensure a seamless rollout of the new Income-tax Act from April 1, 2026, with Member (Legislation) RN Parbat emphasising that simplified rules, detailed FAQs, and upgraded IT systems will be in place well before the law comes into effect.

In an interview to Moneycontrol, Parbat said the new Act consolidates scattered provisions, removes redundancies, and uses tabular forms and formulae to make computation of income and taxes easier for taxpayers. He added that while the legal powers for search and seizure already existed, the new law makes them more explicit, including access to digital lockers and virtual digital assets to track tax evasion.

On the transitional roadmap, Parbat revealed that a drafting committee has already prepared draft rules and forms after public consultation, FAQs and mapping guides linking old provisions to the new ones will be released “at the earliest”, and capacity building of officers through the National Academy of Direct Taxes is already underway.

Income Tax: The last date to file income tax return (ITR) of September 15 is drawing closer. This is the time to hurry through your return filing process but carefully. While filing your income tax return, in case you noticed that the TDS details in form 26AS and Form 16 do not match - then it is important to cross verify the information.

There could be instances when TDS detail is given in one form and missing in other. Then it is vital to reconcile these forms before filing your return.

Those who are not aware, these are the details of these forms:

Form 16: It is a TDS (tax deducted at source) certificate issued by the employer to employees detailing information pertaining to tax deducted at source (TDS).

Form 26AS: It is a statement which provides details of any amount deducted as TDS or TCS from various sources of income of a taxpayer. It also shows details of advance tax/self-assessment tax paid, and high-value transactions entered into by the taxpayer.

Annual Information Statement (AIS): It is a statement which provides complete information about the prepaid taxes and prescribed financial transactions entered into by taxpayer for a particular financial year

As Income Tax Act 2025 aims to widen the definition of computer system to ensure better access to digital data for tax evaders, government will follow protocols as per the Digital Data Protection Act, to maintain privacy, confirmed RN Parbat, member (Legislation) of Central Board Direct Taxes (CBDT).

“Select Committee did a detailed discussion on issues around digital data handling and Data Protection Act. We will work in tandem with the Data Protection Act. Even as a part of Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) issued, it will be clarified to the officials on how to handle digital data,” said Parbat.

Finance minister Nirmala Sithraman while presenting the Bill in Rajya Sabha had stated that there would be provisions in this Bill to deal with those tax evaders who don’t let the officials from the Income Tax department access their devices, claiming that the respective device doesn’t come under the definition of ‘computer system’. She also assured that for better understanding of the concept of Computer System, CBDT will bring out detailed SoP for handling digital data.

The government on Friday formally notified the Income-tax Act, 2025. The legislation was passed in the Parliament last week and is aimed at consolidating and updating India’s income tax framework. The Act received the President’s assent on Thursday (August 21) and was notified by the Ministry of Law and Justice through a gazette order.

According to the notification, the law will come into effect next year on April 1, unless specified otherwise.

Announcing the notification on X, Income Tax India posted, “The Income-tax Act, 2025 has received the Hon’ble President’s assent on 21st Aug 2025. A landmark reform replacing the 1961 Act, it ushers in a simpler, transparent & compliance-friendly direct tax regime.”