CBDT to simplify ITR forms to match new law

New Delhi: The Income Tax Department will revamp income tax return (ITR) forms, making the language simpler and enhancing the ease of filing returns in alignment with the new income tax law which will kick in from April 1, 2026.

An internal committee of the Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT) is working on the new ITR forms and expects them to be ready by December, after which it will send them for public consultations, Ramesh Narain Parbat, member (legislation) CBDT, told ET in an interview.

The department is also working on changing its IT systems and is training the field formations for the smooth implementation of the tax law, he said. "Our first priority is to prepare and roll out forms, which are required during the next financial year, and already teams are working on that," Parbat said.

The idea is to make them "smarter, having more prefilled sections", which will be easier to understand, with standard language. "Our TPL (Tax Policy and Legislation division) has already started examining them and then we will be having the approval of the finance minister and then they will be laid before Parliament and modified," he said, adding that the focus of the department is smooth implementation. Under the Income Tax Act, 2025, notified last week, a unified "tax year" replaces "financial year" and "assessment year" that figured in the previous legislation. It will also necessitate tweaking forms for tax deducted at source. The department has started receiving suggestions from industry, chambers and other stakeholders.

Parbat said that the new law is expected to provide certainty not only to taxpayers but also to tax administrators through clear language. The department is in the process of issuing a detailed guideline on new provisions and a series of frequently asked questions for the benefit of taxpayers as well as tax consultants. It is conducting extensive training for officers across India, led by principal chief commissioners in their regions.