CBDT plans nationwide outreach ahead of new Income Tax Act, 2025 rollout

Starting January 2026, the CBDT will conduct nationwide awareness and training programmes to familiarise taxpayers with the new Income Tax Act, 2025, which comes into effect on April 1, 2026.

The tax department is gearing up for a large-scale awareness push ahead of the rollout of the new Income Tax Act, 2025, on April 1, 2026, according to two senior Finance Ministry officials.    Beginning January 2026, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will launch extensive outreach and training programmes across the country to prepare taxpayers for the new law. As part of this effort, every jurisdictional Principal Commissioner of Income Tax (PCIT) has been instructed to conduct four outreach programmes in the quarter to build public understanding of the upcoming framework, they said.

“For such a massive training exercise, master trainers are being prepared among officers who will conduct these awareness programmes. Trade, industry, and other associations are also being readied for the outreach,” a CBDT official said.

CBDT said the department regularly holds training and awareness sessions, and this initiative will be part of that ongoing effort. “The officers are expected to undertake these targets but there are no stiff targets or penalties. It is a collective effort,” CBDT added.

The Income Tax Act, 2025, which replaces the six-decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961, is a complete overhaul of India’s direct tax framework. The transition will affect all taxpayers — individuals as well as businesses — and will require them to adapt to new procedures.

All compliances under the new Act will change from April 1, 2026, including tax deducted at source (TDS)/tax collected at source (TCS) challans and returns, which will be replaced with entirely new formats. The government is expected to notify the new challans and return structures ahead of the first due dates. For instance, the TDS/TCS challan due on May 7, 2026, the advance tax payment on June 15, 2026, and the TDS/TCS return filing due on July 31, 2026, will all use new formats, CBDT sources said.

Tax experts say the new law simplifies several long-standing compliance processes. Vivek Jalan, partner at Tax Connect Advisory, said 71 sections relating to TDS/TCS in the Income Tax Act, 1961, have been merged into 10 sections in the new law, which should make compliance easier for both deductors and deductees.

However, Jalan noted that some legacy compliances also need to be removed to fully realise the benefits. For instance, deductors currently need to segregate payments to vendors under different TDS sections at the end of the year — a task that becomes cumbersome when a vendor supplies multiple services. Industry bodies have urged the government to drop this requirement under the new law.

Trade and industry have also sought the removal of the provision requiring the issuance of TDS/TCS certificates, arguing that tax credit is already given on the basis of Form 26AS, Jalan said.