Central Board of Direct Taxes on Friday notified the rules for Income-tax Act, 2025 which provided enhanced tax benefit for HRA to salary earner but makes disclosure of landlord-tenant relationship mandatory.
The Income-tax Rules, 2026 will operationalise the simplified direct tax legislation that was approved by Parliament last year and will come into effect from April 1.
"These rules may be called the Income-tax Rules, 2026. They shall come into force on the April 1, 2026," a gazette notification said.
2 March 2026
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Parliament on August 12, 2025 passed a new Income Tax Bill to replace the six-decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961. It does not impose any new tax rate and only simplified the language, which was required for understanding the complex Income Tax laws.
The Act has removed redundant provisions and archaic language and reduces the number of Sections from 819 in the Income Tax Act of 1961 to 536 and the number of chapters from 47 to 23.
The number of words had been reduced from 5.12 lakh to 2.6 lakh in the new Income Tax Bill, and for the first time, introduces 39 new tables and 40 new formulas, replacing the dense text of the 1961 law to enhance clarity.
New rules create stricter regulations around capital gains, stock exchange dealings and non-resident taxation while simplifying other disclosure mechanisms.
The notification, introduces more than 150 official forms -- numbered from Form 33 onwards -- covering a wide range of tax-related activities.
Income tax rules retain the proposed framework for house rent allowance (HRA) exemptions applicable to salaried taxpayers.
Under the new rules, eight cities -- Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru -- will qualify for a higher exemption limit of 50% of salary, while all other locations will continue at 40%.
At present, salaried employees in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai are allowed to claim HRA exemption of up to 50% of their salary, while those living in other locations are eligible for a lower limit of 40%.
The new rules notified seek disclosure of tenant-landlord relationship for claiming I-T deductions and increased responsibility of auditors and companies for tax credit claims on foreign income.
It also entrusts auditors with greater responsibility for checking PAN duplication and tax liability arising out of adverse audit observation.
It also clarifies how the holding period of assets will be calculated in specific cases to determine whether gains are short-term or long-term.
For converted securities such as shares or debentures, the holding period will include the time for which the original instrument -- like bonds, debentures, or deposit certificates -- was held before conversion.
