Income Tax Return: Do you know that filing tax returns today is not just an annual rule to be followed. Now according to the new rules, before filling it, people need to pay attention to whether their main identity and banking details are completely correct and updated or not. So, for this it is very important that your PAN card and Aadhar card are linked.

Know the rules before getting a refund

If you want to get a refund, it is considered very mandatory to first verify the bank accounts. In this matter, experts believe that you can get your refund only after accessing methods like OTP, Net Banking as well as Digital Signature Certificate to complete the return filing process.

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Which documents need to be taken care of

Keep in mind that before filing the return, do not forget to review the statements like Form 16, Annual Information Statement (AIS), Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) and Form 26AS. On the other hand, big benefits like exemption on house rent, holiday travel, investment under Section 80C, health insurance under Section 80D and home loan interest are also given in it.

Which documents are required according to income?

According to the information, you should keep salary slips, Form 16 and rent receipts safely. Apart from this, people with pension should keep their pension details ready.

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What to do if you have foreign property?

But, if an Indian resident has bank accounts, foreign shares or any property abroad, even if there is no benefit from it, it is still considered very important to disclose the same in ITR. Not only this, along with heavy fines for not giving information about foreign assets, strict investigation can also be initiated by the authorities.

New Income Tax Rules 2025: Income-tax Act, 2025 is going to be implemented in India from April 1, which will replace the almost 60 years old Income-tax Act, 1961. The government says that this is not just a change in the tax system, but a process of redrafting the entire law. The biggest relief for the common people is that there has been no change in the tax slabs and tax rates. However, tax reporting, disclosure and filing will become more stringent, digital and transparent than before.

Let us know what important changes have been made in the new income tax rules, which is important for you to know.

1- Meal Benefits

In the new rules, a big benefit has been given in meal benefits for salaried employees. Now the limit of tax exemption on meal cards or vouchers given by the company (like Sodexo, Pluxee etc.) has been increased from Rs 50 per meal to Rs 200 per meal. With this, an employee can get tax-free mileage benefits of up to Rs 1 lakh annually, which will increase his tax savings.

2-HRA

The rules of House Rent Allowance (HRA) have also been changed. Now, along with Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad have also been included in the cities with 50 percent HRA relaxation. However, by tightening the rules, it has now been made mandatory to provide information about the landlord for making HRA claim, which will prevent fake claims.

3-Form 16

A major change is that now companies will not issue Form 16 to employees, instead a new Form 130 will be given. With this, ITR filing will become completely system based and any discrepancy in TDS may lead to delay in refund.

4- Rules of PAN card

Apart from this, the rules related to PAN card have also been tightened. Now it will be mandatory to provide PAN in high-value transactions like buying and selling of a vehicle. Also, making the process of choosing tax regime easier, now there will be no need to fill any separate form, rather the option can be chosen within the ITR itself.

That is, this new law has been brought not to increase taxes but with the aim of making the system more transparent, digital and accurate. This includes goals like faceless assessment, less human intervention and faster refunds. In such a situation, it is important for people to keep checking their salary structure, HRA details, PAN linking and TDS from time to time, so that any kind of problem can be avoided in future.

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India’s capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has updated the classification rules of mutual fund schemes on 26 February. The new rules will replace the old categorization rules of 6 October 2025 and 6 November 2025 and will be applicable to mutual funds, AMCs, trustee companies and AMFIs. Now mutual fund schemes will be in 5 broad groups: Equity, Debt, Hybrid, Life Cycle Funds and Other Schemes. The biggest change has come in Equity Funds, where the minimum allocation for each category has been fixed. Multi Cap Funds will now invest at least 75% in equity, comprising 25% large-cap, 25% mid-cap and 25% small-cap. Minimum 80% allocation in Large Cap Funds and 35%-35% in Large & Mid Cap Funds will be mandatory.

With the rollout of the Income Tax Act 2025, major changes will be implemented in HRA claims, foreign income reporting, PAN applications and audit compliance norms from 1 April 2026. Now it will be mandatory to disclose landlord relationship in Form 124 while claiming HRA. More documentation will be required under Form 44 for foreign income and FTC claims. Duplicate check and correct declaration will be mandatory in PAN applications. The direct tax impact of audit remarks under Form 26 will have to be evaluated. Overall, tax compliance and transparency is going to become very strict from 2026, where without proper documentation the risk may increase.

In the budget presented on February 1, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that new rules will be implemented in place of the decades-old income tax law. The proposed Income Tax Rules 2026 are set to be implemented from April 1, 2026. At present, the draft has been kept for public opinion till February 22, after which it will be finalized. Apart from this, tax experts believe that employed people will directly benefit from these changes. TDS will be deducted less and take home salary will increase. Especially the proposed changes in HRA, education and hostel allowance will reduce taxable income. In such a situation, let us tell you today how much your salary will increase due to the new income tax rule, how to understand the calculations in one click.

List of cities with 50 percent HRA exemption will increase

Till now, only those working in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai used to get HRA exemption up to 50 percent of the basic salary. In the new draft, it is proposed to include Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad also in this category. Employees living in these cities will now be able to claim up to 50 percent HRA. Whereas in other cities the limit of 40 percent will remain applicable. Apart from this, in the draft rules, there is a proposal to increase the education allowance from Rs 100 per month per child to Rs 3,000 per month. Whereas the limit of hostel allowance can be increased from Rs 300 to Rs 9 thousand per child per month. This exemption will be available up to a maximum of two children.

Relief on income up to Rs 12 lakh

There is a proposal to increase the rebate under Section 87A to Rs 60,000 for those choosing the new tax regime. With this, tax liability on annual income up to Rs 12 lakh can be reduced to zero. This will directly benefit the middle class, while the standard deduction will continue for salaried employees. There is discussion on increasing it from Rs 75,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Apart from this, there is a proposal to increase the tax exemption limit on gifts received from the company from Rs 5000 to Rs 15,000.

Understand the complete account in this way

Suppose the annual gross salary of an employee is Rs 30 lakh, in such a situation, under the old rules, exemption of Rs 2,400 on education allowance, exemption of Rs 7,200 on hostel allowance, HRA exemption of Rs 6 lakh on monthly rent of Rs 75,000 and standard deduction of Rs 50,000, after all this, the net salary will be considered as Rs 23,40,400. Whereas after additional exemption of Rs 4.05 lakh under Chapter VI-A, taxable income will be Rs 19,35,400. Approximately Rs 4,08,844 is taxed on this. In this way the annual take home salary is around Rs 23.47 lakh.

Under the rules of the new draft, there will be a rebate of up to Rs 72,000 on education allowance, a rebate of up to Rs 2,06,000 on hostel allowance and a rebate of up to Rs 7,50,000 on HRA. After these big exemptions, taxable income can come down to around Rs 15,07,000. In this case the tax will be around Rs 2,75,184. This will result in annual tax savings of around Rs 1.33 lakh and the take home salary can increase to around Rs 24.81 lakh. This means that the amount coming in hand every month will increase. According to experts, due to these changes, the annual take home salary of average salaried employees may increase by Rs 25,000 to Rs 80,000. However, its benefit will depend on which tax regime you select and what is your salary structure.

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Eighth pay commission: Central employees and pensioners are eagerly waiting for the eighth salary. But there are many questions about this in his mind that after all, how much will his salary and HRA be increased and will some fitment factor be. Along with this, will there be a basic salary and how much will be found on children’s education and travel allowance. In fact, in the Eighth Pay Commission, all these things will be decided on the basis of fitment factor and it will affect from HRA to travel allowance.

How will salary be decided

It is believed that the salary in the Eighth Pay Commission will be decided on the basis of 2.08 fitments. Earlier, the Seventh Pay Commission had a 2.57 fitment factor, while the Sixth Pay Commission had a fitment factor 1.86. In such a situation, this change will happen only after the report and announcement of the Pay Commission. But it is believed that if the fate of 2.08 seems to be there, then the basic and other allowances of all central employees will increase significantly.

How much salary will increase

In this way, after the introduction of Fitment Factor 2.08, the salary of employees up to the Grade 1900 of Eighth Pay Commission Level-2 can increase to Rs 52,555. Whereas the salary of employees up to 2400 of Level-4 can increase to Rs 75,762.

Similarly, the salary of employees up to Grade 2800 of Level-5 will increase to Rs 96,301, while the salary of employees with Grade 4200 of Level-6 will increase to Rs 94,883. Whereas the salary of Grade 4800 of Level-8 will increase to Rs 1,13,190. Whereas the salary of Grade 5400 employees of Level-9 will increase to Rs 1,146,583.

It is worth noting that the Pay Commission consists of Senior Economists, Retired Justice, Experts and Experience Officers, who talk to the trade union and others and submit their reports to the government. After this, the government stays on the government to implement the final decision.

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