Govt rolls out draft rules to simplify income tax filing

NEW DELHI: The income tax department Saturday unveiled the draft income tax rules which aim to simplify tax filing and usher in ease of compliance. The new rules, which will come into effect from April 1, cover a range of issues for ordinary taxpayers and companies, with an emphasis on simplification, faceless assessments and reducing interpretational disputes.

The draft rules and forms will remain in the public domain for 15 days up to Feb 22, and all stakeholders and public have been requested to go through these rules and provide feedback. The language of the rules has been simplified and formulas and tables have been provided.




Redundancies in IT rules, 1961, have been sought to be eliminated.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2026-27 Budget speech on Feb 1 had said that the simplified income tax rules and forms would be notified shortly, giving adequate time to taxpayers to acquaint themselves with its requirements.

"The forms have been redesigned such that ordinary citizens can comply without difficulty," Sitharaman had said.

In July 2024, FM had announced a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act, 1961. "This was completed in a record time and the Income Tax Act, 2025 will come into effect from 1st April, 2026," the Union finance minister had said.

CBDT chairman Rabi Agrawal had told TOI that the new rules would simplify the processes and the forms would be smarter and aligned with tax returns or audit reports to take care of disconnect and discrepancies, if any.