Corporate tax rates updated for FY 2026-27, including surcharge tiers and health and education cess.
Union Budget 2026-27 sets company income-tax rates and related surcharge and cess treatment for FY 2026-27: domestic companies pay 25% if turnover/gross receipts for tax year 2024-25 are four hundred crore and under the section 199 regime, otherwise 30%, with an option to opt for 22% under section 200 (10% surcharge on that tax). Non domestic companies are taxed at 35% on ordinary income. Surcharge tiers and marginal relief rules remain, and a 4% Health and Education Cess applies on tax inclusive of surcharge without marginal relief for the cess.

Employer deduction for employee contributions will be tied to the return filing due date under section 263(1).
The Finance Bill, 2026 amends section 29(1)(e) to provide that the due date for claiming a deduction for employee contributions credited by the employer shall be the due date of filing of return of income under section 263(1); the amendment takes effect from 1 April 2026 and applies to tax year 2026-27 and subsequent years.

Interest income under Motor Vehicles Act now exempt for individuals and legal heirs from FY 2026-27 onward.
Interest payable as part of compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 to an individual or the legal heir for death, permanent disability, or bodily injury is proposed to be exempt by addition to the Income-tax Act Schedule; the amendment is effective from 1 April 2026 and applies to the tax year commencing then and subsequent years.

Interest on compensation from Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal: no tax deducted at source for individuals, effective April 2026.
The Finance Bill, 2026 proposes that no tax shall be deducted at source on interest paid on compensation awarded by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal to an individual, removing the prior conditional threshold and providing relief to accident victims. The amendment is effective from 1 April 2026 (Clause 72).

Electronic TDS/TCS certificates: payees may file for lower or nil deduction; authority may issue or reject applications.
Permits payees to file applications electronically for certificates for deduction of income-tax at lower or nil rates before the prescribed income-tax authority, which may issue the certificate subject to prescribed conditions or reject incomplete or non compliant applications, thereby easing compliance burdens for small taxpayers under Section 395.

TAN requirement relaxed for resident individuals and HUFs acquiring property from non-resident sellers, effective October 1, 2026.
The Finance Bill, 2026 amends section 397(1)(c) to provide that resident individuals and Hindu undivided families are not required to obtain a tax deduction and collection account number (TAN) to deduct tax at source on any consideration for transfer of immovable property under section 393(2); the amendment takes effect from 1 October 2026.

Investors can file declarations for no TDS with depositories for listed securities and mutual fund units.
Permits filing of a written declaration for no deduction at source with the depository for incomes under section 393(6) (dividend, interest from securities, income from mutual fund units); depository will forward the declaration to the payor. Eligibility is limited to investors holding securities or units in the depository where securities are listed on a registered Indian stock exchange. The time for payors to furnish received declarations to the prescribed income-tax authority is changed from monthly to quarterly. Effective 1 April 2027.

Supply of manpower: TDS to be treated as payment for work, applying contractor TDS rates.
The Bill amends the definition of work to include supply of manpower so that payments for manpower are subject to the TDS rates applicable to payments for work (1% where payee is individual or HUF; 2% otherwise), resolving uncertainty between contractor/work TDS entries and fees for professional or technical services; the amendment is effective 1 April 2026.

Non-life insurance businesses: amendment allows deduction when previously unpaid TDS is later deducted and paid.
The Bill proposes inserting a new sub paragraph in paragraph 4 of Schedule XIV so that amounts added back for non compliance with TDS timing under section 35(b)(i) and (ii) will be allowed as a deduction in the tax year in which the tax was actually deducted and paid; this aligns paragraph 4 with the existing paragraph 4(2) treatment for section 37 and takes effect from 1 April 2026 for tax year 2026-27 onward.

Compensation for compulsory land acquisition under the RFCTLARR Act exempt from income tax from April 1, 2026.
The Income tax Schedule is amended to exempt income from awards or agreements made on account of compulsory acquisition of land under the RFCTLARR Act (excluding those specifically excepted under that Act), codifying that such compensation is not taxable under the Income tax Act and resolving prior ambiguity.

Disability pension exemption for armed forces and paramilitary personnel limited to those invalided out due to service-related disability.
Exemption is limited to disability pension for Armed Forces members invalided out due to bodily disability attributable to or aggravated by service, covering both service and disability elements and excluding pensions paid on retirement; the same exemption is extended to paramilitary personnel and takes effect from 1 April 2026 for tax year 2026-27 onward.

Due dates for filing income tax returns extended for non-audit businesses, partners and certain trusts to ease compliance.
Rationalisation of due date deadlines restructures filing timelines by class of taxpayer to provide additional time for business or professional assessees whose accounts do not require audit, partners (and specified spouses) and certain trusts. The amendment sets 30 November for one specified class, 31 October for audited entities, 31 August for non audit business cases and partners/spouses in non audit situations, and 31 July for all other assessees, while preserving 31 July for certain individual return forms; parallel explanatory amendments for trusts are enacted and the changes are given prospective effective dates in 2026.

Revised income-tax returns: filing window extended to 12 months; fee proposed for revisions after nine months.
The proposal increases the time limit for filing a revised income-tax return from nine to twelve months from the end of the relevant tax year to allow those who file belated returns late to still revise returns; a fee is proposed for revised returns filed after nine months, with corresponding amendments and staggered commencement dates across the two income-tax statutes applying to the relevant tax and assessment years.

Updated tax returns may be allowed when a taxpayer reduces a previously claimed loss, per proposed Finance Bill changes.
Section 263(6) permits an updated return within 48 months but bars updated returns that are returns of loss, limits reductions in tax liability or increases in refund, and restricts filing during or after assessment, reassessment, search, survey or prosecution. The Finance Bill, 2026 proposes to amend section 263(6) to allow filing an updated return where the taxpayer reduces the amount of loss claimed in a duly filed return of loss, and to make parallel amendments to the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Updated tax returns allowed in response to reassessment notices, with extra tax payable and penalty exclusion for that income.
Permits furnishing an updated return in response to a reassessment notice within the notice period, precludes alternative filing in response to that notice, maintains existing restrictions on updated returns, and requires payment of prescribed additional income tax; where filed in pursuance of the notice an extra 10% of aggregate tax and interest is payable and that income will not form the basis for penalty.

Foreign asset disclosure scheme for small taxpayers offers a time-bound window with tax/fee and limited immunity.
The proposed FAST-DS 2026 provides a time bound window for small taxpayers to declare undisclosed foreign assets and foreign sourced income, requires payment of tax or a fee based on nature and source of acquisition, and grants limited immunity from penalty and prosecution under the Black Money Act for matters covered by the declaration, while excluding cases involving prosecution or proceeds of crime; the scheme is included in the Finance Bill, 2026 (Clauses 114-128) and will commence from a date notified by the Central Government.

Relaxation of prosecution under the Black Money Act excludes small-value foreign assets from sections 49 and 50.
The Finance Bill proposes that sections 49 and 50 of the Black Money Act will not apply to foreign assets (other than immovable property) where the aggregate value does not exceed twenty lakh rupees, thereby excluding prosecution for minor or inadvertent nondisclosures and aligning prosecution exposure with the Act's penalty framework; the amendment is to have retrospective effect from 1 October 2024.

Union Budget 2026 27 proposes decriminalisation of tax offences, replacing rigorous terms with graded simple imprisonment and fines.
Amendments to sections 473-485 and 494 recast many penalties from rigorous to simple imprisonment, cap most maximum terms at two years (with lower terms for subsequent offences), introduce fines in lieu of or alongside imprisonment, and adopt a tiered penalty structure tied to amounts of tax evaded-higher tiers permitting up to two years' simple imprisonment, intermediate tiers up to six months, and lower tiers limited to fines-while fully decriminalising selected offences and creating specific carve outs for certain TDS/TCS categories.

Union Budget change limits block assessment period for third parties when undisclosed income pertains to a single tax year.
Section 295 currently requires that seized material relating to undisclosed income of a person other than the specified person be handed to that person's AO and that the other person undergo block assessment with the same block period; the Finance Bill proposes amending Section 295(2) to limit the period of block for such third parties, particularly where the undisclosed income pertains to a single tax year, with effect for searches or requisitions initiated on or after 1 April 2026.

Union Budget 2026-27 proposes using initiation of search as the trigger for block assessment and extending the period to eighteen months.
The amendment replaces the last search authorization date with the initiation of search (or requisition) as the reference for computing the block-assessment limitation period and increases that period from twelve months to eighteen months, effective for searches or requisitions initiated on or after 1 April 2026.