Section 115BAC tax regime retained as default; surcharge tiers and caps specified, with marginal relief safeguards.
The Finance Bill, 2025 retains existing income-tax rates for assessment year 2025-26 and keeps special concessional regimes unchanged. Section 115BAC operates as the default regime for eligible individuals and similar entities unless an option is chosen, with prescribed slab rates applying. The Bill specifies tiered surcharge rates on tax under section 115BAC for higher incomes, caps surcharge on dividend and certain categorized income and for associations of companies, and provides marginal relief. Part III First Schedule provisions for advance tax and withholding are reallocated to Part I for 2025-26.

Tax rates: existing graduated income-tax slab structure for individuals and related entities remains unchanged for the assessment year.
Part I of the First Schedule to the Finance Bill, 2025 prescribes graduated income-tax slabs and corresponding percentage rates for assessment year 2025-26 applicable to individuals, HUFs, associations of persons, bodies of individuals and certain artificial juridical persons. It distinguishes three resident-individual categories by age with differing basic-exemption thresholds and applies graduated marginal rates across successive income bands. The schedule for 2025-26 is stated to be unchanged from the prior assessment year.

Income-tax rates for co-operative societies remain unchanged under the Finance Bill, preserving existing tiered percentage bands.
Income-tax rates for co-operative societies are specified in Paragraph B of Part I of the First Schedule to the Finance Bill and remain unchanged for the assessment year 2025-26, preserving a tiered rate structure that applies different percentage rates to successive income bands and maintaining continuity with the existing tax treatment for such entities.

Firm tax rate unchanged under Finance Bill, maintaining existing income-tax treatment for partnership entities provision.
Firm taxation for assessment year 2025-26 is governed by the rate specified in Paragraph C of Part I of the First Schedule to the Finance Bill; the statutory rate for firms remains 30%, preserving the existing income-tax treatment of partnership firms as the operative rate for computing liabilities.

Local authority tax rate remains unchanged for the assessment year, specified in the Finance Bill's First Schedule.
Paragraph D of Part I of the First Schedule to the Finance Bill prescribes the income-tax rate for a local authority and specifies that the rate remains unchanged at 30% for the assessment year 2025-26.

Corporate tax rate differential maintained between smaller domestic companies and others, with surcharge rules and health and education cess applied.
Rates of income-tax for companies confirm lower rate for domestic companies below the turnover threshold and higher rates for other domestic and non-domestic companies; surcharge framework remains as prior year with exclusions for income of specified funds and capped surcharge treatment for incomes under the special domestic tax regime. Marginal relief is provided where surcharge is imposed. A Health and Education Cess is levied at a fixed percentage on income-tax inclusive of surcharge in all cases, with no marginal relief available for the cess.

Deduction of income-tax at source: insurance commission TDS rate reduced, other TDS rates and surcharges largely retained
Deduction of income-tax at source for FY 2025-26 is set out in Part II of the First Schedule to the Finance Bill, 2025, with section-specific provisions continuing to govern TDS mechanics. The rate for taxation of insurance commission is reduced pursuant to amendments in the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 effective from 1 April 2025. Other TDS rates remain as specified in the prior Act, surcharge treatment is unchanged, and Health and Education Cess is levied at four per cent on income-tax including surcharge where applicable for non-residents and non-domestic companies.

Income-tax withholding on salaries now set by prescribed rates, also governing advance tax computation and special assessments.
Rates for deduction of income-tax at source from Salaries and for computation of advance tax are prescribed in Part III of the First Schedule; those rates also apply for charging income-tax on current incomes where accelerated or special assessments are required, including provisional assessments, assessments of persons leaving the country, transfers to avoid tax, and short-duration bodies.

New individual tax regime introduces revised slab rates, capped surcharge rules and an option to retain the old regime.
Proposed amendments create a revised new tax regime for individuals, HUFs, AOPs, BOIs and artificial juridical persons, prescribing progressive slab rates to determine income-tax from assessment year 2026-27, while allowing taxpayers to opt instead for rates in Part III of the First Schedule. The Part III schedule contains separate slab structures for general residents and for senior and super-senior residents. Computed tax (including specified capital gains) is subject to a multi-tiered surcharge with caps on surcharge for dividend and certain capital gains incomes, special limits for associations of companies, and marginal relief at thresholds.

Co-operative society tax rates and surcharge structure clarified for FY, with marginal relief and optional concessional tax regime available.
Rates of income-tax for co-operative societies remain unchanged from the prior fiscal year. A tiered surcharge regime applies with marginal relief to smooth threshold effects. Resident co-operative societies that satisfy specified conditions may elect a concessional tax option under the Finance Bill, which attracts a reduced surcharge on the alternative tax.

Firm income-tax rate unchanged; surcharge applies on incomes above the specified threshold, with a cap limiting surcharge impact.
The rate of income-tax for firms remains unchanged from the prior year as set in Paragraph C of Part III of the First Schedule. A surcharge applies on a firm's income-tax where total income exceeds a specified threshold, but the total of income-tax and surcharge on income above the threshold is capped so it cannot exceed the tax on the threshold amount by more than the excess income.

Surcharge on local authorities' income capped above the statutory threshold while base tax rates remain unchanged.
The income-tax rate for local authorities set in Paragraph D of Part III of the First Schedule is unchanged for FY 2025-26; a surcharge applies where total income exceeds one crore rupees, but the aggregate tax and surcharge on income above that threshold is limited so it cannot exceed the tax on one crore rupees by more than the excess income amount.

Corporate tax rate structure revised with differential domestic and foreign company rates, surcharge bands, marginal relief, and a health cess.
Corporate tax rates for FY 2025-26 set differentiated base rates for domestic and non domestic companies, allow domestic companies to opt into a concessional section 115BAA regime, and apply tiered surcharge rates with marginal relief; an additional Health and Education Cess is levied on tax inclusive of surcharge and is not eligible for marginal relief.

Rebate under section 87A expanded for new tax regime, raising eligibility and capping deduction to tax payable.
The proviso to section 87A grants a limited rebate and marginal relief to resident individuals whose income is chargeable under the new tax regime, excluding incomes taxed at special rates. From assessment year 2026-27 the Finance Bill proposes to increase the income limits and the maximum rebate under the proviso, and to add a proviso limit that the deduction cannot exceed the tax payable under the new tax-regime rates.

Incentives to International Financial Services Centre: proposed tax and regulatory amendments to further promote IFSC operations in non rupee currencies
IFSC is a jurisdiction providing financial services to non-residents and permitted residents in currencies other than the Indian Rupee; prior tax concessions have been granted to IFSC units to develop financial infrastructure, and the Union Budget 2025-26 proposes further amendments to provide additional incentives for operations from IFSC units, building on existing concessions to enhance its attractiveness for international financial services.

IFSC tax concession sunset extension extends commencement and relocation deadlines to March 2030, effective April 2025.
The Finance Bill proposes extending sunset dates for tax concessions tied to IFSC units and relocation of funds to IFSC, moving the deadline for commencement and relocation-related benefits to 31 March 2030; these amendments take effect from 1 April 2025.

Life insurance exemption extended to IFSC-issued policies without premium cap, improving parity for non-residents and clarifying scope.
Exemption for amounts received under life insurance policies, including bonuses, will expressly apply to policies issued by IFSC insurance offices; the proposed amendment removes the existing premium-cap condition for IFSC-issued policies to provide parity for non-resident policyholders, while leaving other exemption conditions intact, effective 1 April 2025.

Exemption to capital gains and dividend expanded to ship leasing units in IFSC, aligning tax treatment with aircraft leasing.
The measure extends existing IFSC exemptions applying to aircraft leasing so that non residents or IFSC units engaged in ship leasing are exempt from capital gains tax on transfers of equity shares of domestic companies that are IFSC ship leasing units, and dividends paid by an IFSC ship leasing company to another IFSC ship leasing unit are likewise exempt. The amendment aligns ship leasing with aircraft leasing treatment and specifies an effective commencement under the Finance Bill.

Dividend definition clarified for IFSC treasury centres-group entity loans to finance units excluded from dividend rules subject to conditions.
The proposal narrows the scope of dividend for IFSC corporate treasury centres by excluding advances or loans between group entities where one is a Finance company or Finance unit in IFSC acting as a global or regional corporate treasury centre, provided the parent or principal entity is listed on an overseas stock exchange (with Board specified exceptions). Conditions defining group entity, principal entity and parent entity will be prescribed, and the amendment is to take effect from the stated effective date.

Business connection exemption for IFSC fund managers streamlined with timing relief and relaxed conditions for qualifying managers.
Amendments to Section 9A rationalise the resident participation condition by testing aggregate participation on 1 April and 1 October of the previous year, with a four month period to cure deficiencies. Clause (c) will otherwise remain unmodified for all eligible funds and managers. Additionally, clauses (a)-(m) may be relaxed for eligible funds whose IFSC based eligible fund managers commenced operations on or before the specified commencement date under sub section (8A). The amendments take effect from 1 April 2025.