Income Tax Act 2025 vs Income Tax Act 1961:New rules require tenants to disclose relations with landlord while filling ITR

The landscape of the Indian taxation system is undergoing a massive transformation. With the proposal of the Income Tax Act 2025, the government has tightened the noose on money held the citizens of India. According to CA Ashish Niraj, Partner at A S N Company, the new system is heavily focused on monetary data collection. The goal is to ensure the Income Tax (I-T) Department has a complete digital map of a taxpayer’s life before they even file the Income Tax Return (ITR.) Consequently, the intensive reporting required may make documentation a significant challenge for the common man. Huge changes in way of filing HRA claim: One of the biggest changes is the manner of claiming House Rent Allowance (HRA) when the taxpayer pays rent to his/her spouse or parents The old Form 12BB (used by employees to claim deductions) has been replaced by Form 124. This new form doesn’t just ask how much rent you would pay. It now requires your relationship with the landlord and a copy of the rent agreement. “Many people who pay rent to family members will now be on the government’s radar. The IT Department will easily check if the person receiving that rent is actually reporting it as income in their own tax filings.” -CA Ashish Niraj, Partner at A S N Company Big Changes for NRIs and PAN Applicants Applying for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) is also changing. The old form 49A will be replaced by forms 93 to 96, depending on who you are. For Non-Residents: Providing a passport number is now mandatory. For Global Taxpayers: You must provide your Tax Identification Number (TIN) from your country of residence. Audit Rules: No More Hiding Data For businesses, the “Tax Audit” (previously Forms 3CA/3CB/3CD) is now Form 26. The rules for digital record-keeping have become very strict. Auditors must now report the exact IP address and location of the servers where your data lives. Furthermore, auditors must now categorize their findings into specific buckets, such as whether they verified data themselves or simply took the management’s word for it. Property Deals and Loan Applications The government is also streamlining how it tracks property deals. Form 141 now replaces several older forms (like 26QB). If you are buying or renting a property with multiple owners, you need to give information about the exact share percentage of every buyer, seller, landlord, and tenant involved. Finally, the Form 26AS will also be replaced by Form 168. “In the past, many taxpayers would hide ongoing tax disputes when applying for bank loans,” says Niraj. He adds, “Now, those pending cases will be clearly visible to anyone viewing the form.” Another change has been made in Form 128 (formerly Form 13), used to request lower tax deduction certificates. Now, once approved, the certificate can be sent directly to the deductor digitally. Income Tax Act 2025 vs Income Tax Act 1961