Income Tax Act 1961 By Taxmann – 72nd Edition 2026

Income-Tax Act 1961 is the most authoritative and complete Edition of India’s principal direct tax statute, now in its 72^nd consecutive annual Edition. At over 1,800+ pages and spanning five self-contained Divisions, this Edition presents the full text of the Income-tax Act 1961 as it stands after every amendment effected by the Finance Act 2026.

What distinguishes the 72^nd Edition from its predecessors is its expanded legislative scope. Beyond the core statute, it captures three additional primary law texts—the full Finance Act 2026 (which amends both the Income-tax Act 1961 and the newly enacted Income-tax Act 2025 in parallel), the Securities Transaction Tax and Commodities Transaction Tax provisions with updated rates, and—appearing in print for the first time in Taxmann’s ITA series—the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme 2026, a new amnesty-type voluntary disclosure framework introduced under Chapter IV of the Finance Act 2026. The Edition is designed to serve simultaneously as a legislative reference, a compliance tool, a research base, and a professional quick-reckoner. Its architecture—dual section-page indexing, comprehensive amendment-history footnoting, and an integrated Appendix of allied provisions—makes it functional as a complete single-volume direct tax library for most day-to-day professional needs.

This title is essential for every category of direct tax professional and student:

• Tax Practitioners and Chartered Accountants for return filing, assessment, appeals, withholding tax compliance, transfer pricing documentation, and advisory work. The section-level amendment history in footnotes is particularly valuable for multi-year matters involving prior assessment years
• Advocates and Tax Lawyers for appearances before Income Tax Authorities, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, High Courts, and the Supreme Court. The complete text of penalty, prosecution, and appeals provisions across Chapters XX through XXII provides the foundational statutory reference
• Company Secretaries, CFOs, and In-House Tax Teams for managing corporate tax positions, TDS/TCS obligations, transfer pricing, MAT/AMT, and the concessional corporate tax regimes under Sections 115BAA, 115BAB, 115BAC, 115BAD, and 115BAE
• Revenue Officers and ITAT Members for an up-to-date, authoritative text of the statute with complete amendment history
• CA Final, LL.B., and Allied Examination Candidates where the Income-tax Act is a core examined statute, this bare-act edition provides the full text at the correct amendment level
• Legal Researchers and Academics for legislative history research, comparative tax law analysis, and policy work

The Present Publication, in its 72^nd Edition | 2026, upholds its tradition of unmatched accuracy and reliability. It is updated to incorporate the latest amendments introduced by the Finance Act 2026. The book is authored and edited by Taxmann’s Editorial Board, continuing its legacy as a cornerstone in Direct Tax, with the following noteworthy features:

• [Complete, Section-by-Section Amended Text of the Income-tax Act 1961] Every section of the Act across all 23 Chapters, every Rule and every Schedule, is reproduced in full as amended and currently in force. Provisions inserted, substituted, or omitted by each amending statute since 1961 are clearly indicated inline
• [Exhaustive Amendment-history Footnoting] Each page of the substantive text carries numbered footnotes precisely recording: the amending statute (Finance Act, Direct Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, etc.), the effective/retrospective date, and the exact nature of the change (insertion, substitution, or omission). This allows practitioners to reconstruct the law as it stood at any particular point in time—critical for reassessment proceedings, block assessment cases, and appeals relating to prior years
• [Full Text of Finance Act 2026 as a Separate Division] The complete Finance Act 2026 is reproduced in Division Two with its own Arrangement of Sections covering Chapters I through IV
• [Dual-Statute Coverage in the Finance Act Division] The Finance Act 2026 amends both the Income-tax Act 1961 and the Income-tax Act 2025 (the re-codification which was enacted as Act No. 30 of 2025). This Edition captures both sets of amendments, making it the essential reference during the current transitional period where both statutes co-exist operationally. Practitioners advising on the new tax regime transition, AY 2026–27 rates, or compliance under the 2025 Act will find this dual coverage indispensable
• [Significant Finance Act 2026 Amendments Incorporated] Key changes captured across the text include:
  • Amendments to Sections 92CA (Transfer Pricing Officer reference), 139 (return filing), 140B (tax on updated return), 143/143B/143C (assessment and faceless assessment), 148 (escaped income notices), 150 (assessment in pursuance of appellate orders), 153/153B (time limits for assessment), 220/222 (tax recovery), 245MA (Dispute Resolution Committee), 254 (ITAT orders)
  • Significant Overhaul of the Penalties Chapter – Sections 270A, 270AA, 271, 271B, 272, and related provisions—including new substitutions for the penalty provisions governing failures that previously stood under Sections 271BB, 271BBB, 271BBBB, 271BBBBB and 271C
  • New Sections Inserted – 145A (method of accounting in certain cases), 235-I, and 354A (merger of registered non-profit organisations)
  • Omission of Part V (arrest and detention of defaulters) from the Second Schedule to the Act, effective 30 March 2026—a significant procedural change in tax recovery law
  • Amendments to Sections 279, 280, 283 (prosecution procedure), 286 (international group reporting), 295 (rule-making power), 296, 332, 349, 351, 352, 354, 393 (TDS on various payments), and 394
• [Revised STT Rates Integrated] The Finance Act 2026 revises Securities Transaction Tax rates. The updated rates—options in securities (revised to 0.15%), exercise of options (0.15%), futures (revised to 0.05%), and equity-oriented fund units—are captured in the fully amended text of Division Three, with detailed footnotes recording the pre-amendment rates and effective dates
• [Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme 2026 (New Division)] Division Five reproduces the full text of this new voluntary disclosure scheme under Sections 130–144 of the Finance Act 2026
• [Section–Page Dual-Column Index (Arrangement of Sections)] Every Division opens with a section-number and page-number index in dual-column format, enabling immediate navigation to any provision without passing through the main index. The Arrangement for Division One alone runs across 40 pages, covering all 298 sections and all 14 Schedules
• [Comprehensive Allied Acts Appendix] The Appendix to Division One reproduces the full text of provisions from allied statutes and circulars cross-referenced within the Act. The allied acts list covers over 50 enactments and regulatory instruments. The full text of these provisions is reproduced, eliminating the need to cross-reference separate statute collections in most analytical work
• [Subject Index] A detailed alphabetical and topical Subject Index to the Income-tax Act 1961, supporting keyword-based and topic-led navigation alongside the section-number index at the front

The coverage of the book is as follows:

• Division One — Income-tax Act 1961
  • The core division reproduces the complete, chapter-wise text of the Act across its 23 Chapters and all associated Schedules
  • Appendix – Allied Acts and Circulars cross-referenced in the Act, reproduced in full
  • Subject Index – Alphabetical topical index to the Act
• Division Two — Finance Act 2026
  • Full text of the Finance Act 2026
• Division Three — Securities Transaction Tax
  • Full text of the STT provisions (Chapter VII of Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004), incorporating Finance Act, 2026 revisions to STT rates on options (revised to 0.15%), futures (revised to 0.05%), and related taxable securities transactions
• Division Four — Commodities Transaction Tax
  • Full text of the CTT provisions with all amendments current to the Finance Act 2026
• Division Five — Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme 2026 (New)
  • Full text of this newly introduced scheme—a one-time disclosure framework for small taxpayers with undisclosed foreign assets

The book is organised across five self-contained Divisions, each prefaced with its own Arrangement of Sections (or Paragraphs). Division One is extensively annotated, with its Subject Index. Divisions Two through Five are independently paginated, allowing each to be referenced without displacement of the primary Act’s page numbering. Within the text of the Act, each section carries:

• A bold section number and descriptive heading
• The substantive text of the provision
• Numbered footnotes at the page foot recording the amendment history of each sub-section, clause, or proviso, including the effective date and the amending statute
• Cross-reference footnotes pointing to Taxmann’s ancillary publications for case-law or definitional commentary

The Schedules follow the Act in sequence, and the Appendix reproduces allied provisions in the order in which they are referenced across the Act, facilitating direct, context-linked reading.