Description

Income-Tax Act 2025 – Pocket Edition is the definitive compact statutory reference for the Income-tax Act 2025 (ITA 2025), incorporating all amendments brought in by the Finance Act 2026. Now in its 33rd Edition, this title continues a decades-long publishing legacy of delivering the complete statutory text of India’s principal direct tax legislation in a format designed for everyday professional use. At its core, the publication presents the annotated text of the ITA 2025 alongside the full text of the Finance Act 2026—giving readers a single, self-contained statutory compendium that is both authoritative in its coverage and practical in its portability.

The defining editorial contribution of this Edition is its annotation architecture: beneath each section, the reader finds cross-references to the applicable Income-tax Rules 2026 (including prescribed forms), relevant CBDT Circulars and Notifications, judicially noticed words and phrases, and allied statutory provisions—all marshalled in a structured, footnote-driven format. To ease the transition from the repealed Income-tax Act 1961 to the newly codified ITA 2025, corresponding provisions of the 1961 Act are cited at every point, making this Edition indispensable during the transitional period when both regimes continue to carry interpretive and precedential relevance.

This Edition is designed for readers who need the statute at arm’s reach at all times:

Chartered Accountants and Tax Practitioners requiring an annotated, always-current version of the Act for filing, advisory, and compliance work
Corporate Tax and Finance Teams needing a reliable desk reference during assessment, audit, and advance ruling proceedings
Advocates and Tax Counsels appearing before Income Tax Authorities, CIT(A), DRP, ITAT, and High Courts
Law Students and CA/CS/CMA Candidates requiring an authoritative statutory text for examinations and academic study
Government Officers and Tax Administrators (IRS/IRAS) working within the new statutory framework
Legal Researchers and Academicians conducting comparative or doctrinal work across the 1961 and 2025 regimes
The pocket form factor makes it equally suitable for courtroom and chamber reference, client meetings, and field work—wherever a full-form volume would be impractical.
The Present Publication is the 33rd Edition | 2026, amended by the Finance Act 2026 and edited by Taxmann’s Editorial Board, with the following noteworthy features:

[Complete Annotated Statutory Text] The full text of the Income-tax Act 2025, as amended by the Finance Act 2026, with no sections abridged or omitted. Every amendment enacted by the Finance Act 2026, is incorporated directly into the text of the section, with a clear footnote indicating the substitution, insertion, or omission and its effective date
[Four-Tier Annotation System] Below each section, annotations systematically cross-reference
Prescribed Rules and Forms under the Income-tax Rules 2026
Relevant CBDT Circulars and Notifications
Judicially interpreted words and phrases
Allied statutory provisions referred to within the section—making the Act not merely a bare text but a structured research anchor.
[Corresponding 1961 Act Provisions at Every Point] Given that the ITA 2025 represents a wholesale recodification rather than an amendment of the 1961 Act, practitioners must routinely cross-refer. This Edition places the corresponding section number(s) of the Income-tax Act 1961 in square brackets immediately alongside each section heading, eliminating the need for a separate concordance
[Text of Finance Act 2026 in Full] Division Two reproduces the complete Finance Act 2026, including the First Schedule (rate structure) covering all taxpayer categories—individuals (general, senior citizens, super senior citizens), Hindu Undivided Families, firms, co-operative societies, domestic companies, and foreign companies—as well as surcharge and Health and Education Cess provisions applicable for Tax Year 2026–27
[Appendix—Allied Acts, Circulars, and Regulations] The Appendix first lists all allied enactments and regulatory instruments cross-referenced within the ITA 2025, then reproduces the precise provisions (sections, clauses, or regulations) of those instruments that are referenced. This spans legislation including the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act 1956; the Sick Industrial Companies Act 1985 (as repealed); SEBI Regulations; and other statutes, making the volume self-sufficient for most statutory look-ups
[Detailed Subject Index] A granular subject index spanning the entire Volume 1 content (ITA 2025 and Appendix) enables rapid location of specific topics, provisions, and concepts without requiring knowledge of the section number
[Pocket Format Without Compromise on Coverage] Despite its compact dimensions, the Edition makes no sacrifice in statutory completeness. All 500+ sections of the ITA 2025, spanning 16 chapters, are reproduced in full with their sub-sections, provisos, explanations, and schedules intact
The volume is organised into two Divisions:

Division One — Income-tax Act 2025
Covers the complete annotated text of the ITA 2025 across all 16 Chapters, including Preliminary and Definitions; Basis of Charge and Residence; Exempt Incomes; Computation of Total Income across all five heads (Salaries, House Property, Business or Profession, Capital Gains, and Other Sources); special regimes for Venture Capital Undertakings, Business Trusts, Investment Funds, and the Tonnage Tax Scheme for shipping companies; Tax Administration (authorities, jurisdiction, search and seizure, survey, Faceless proceedings); Return of Income (PAN, filing, self-assessment, updated return); and Assessment Procedure (regular, best judgment, Faceless Assessment, DRP, escaped income)
The Division also includes an Arrangement of Sections, an Appendix reproducing allied statutory provisions and CBDT instruments referenced in the Act, and a Subject Index
Division Two — Finance Act, 2026
The complete text of the Finance Act 2026, covering income-tax rates for Tax Year 2026–27 across all taxpayer categories (individuals, HUFs, firms, co-operatives, domestic and foreign companies) under both the ITA 2025 and the ITA 1961, along with applicable surcharge slabs and the Health and Education Cess at 4%
The editorial architecture of the volume is built around three layers:

Layer 1 | Statutory Text — Each section reproduces the verbatim legislative text of the ITA 2025 as amended, with all sub-sections, clauses, provisos, and explanations. Amendments made by the Finance Act 2026 are incorporated directly into the text and identified in footnotes with the phrase ‘Substituted/Inserted/Omitted by the Finance Act, 2026, w.e.f. [date]’
Layer 2 | Section-Level Annotations (Footnotes) — Below each section (or within the text at superscripted reference points), annotations provide:
Rule and Form references under the Income-tax Rules 2026
Circular references
Words and phrases judicially interpreted
Cross-references to the corresponding section of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (shown in square brackets in section headings)
Layer 3 | Appendix and Index — The Appendix provides two components:
A consolidated list of all allied statutes and regulatory instruments cited anywhere in the ITA 2025
The verbatim text of the cited provisions makes the volume self-sufficient for resolving cross-statutory references without recourse to separate bare acts. The Subject Index provides a topical gateway into the volume