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New Income Tax Act 2025 To Take Effect From April 1: 10 Key Changes That Will Affect Your Money
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The New Income Tax Act, 2025, effective April 1, 2026, replaces the 1961 Act. Key changes: PAN for high-value transactions, expanded HRA benefits, higher tax-free perquisites, etc
Income Tax Rules 2026: 10 changes that will impact your pocket
The New Income Tax Act, 2025 is set to come into effect from April 1, 2026, replacing the decades-old Income-tax Act, 1961 with a simplified and more streamlined tax framework. The new legislation aims to make tax laws easier to understand by reducing complex provisions, eliminating redundant sections, and reorganising the structure of the law to improve clarity for taxpayers, professionals, and businesses.
1. PAN Rules Overhauled for High-Value Transactions
Under the draft rules, PAN will be required for annual cash deposits or withdrawals of Rs 10 lakh or more (aggregate in a financial year). Currently, a per-day limit of Rs 50,000 is applicable in deposits, while withdrawals have no specific provision.
PAN will be mandatory for vehicle purchases of Rs 5 lakh or more, including two-wheelers. Currently, PAN is needed for all vehicles, except for two-wheelers, irrespective of value.
For immovable property transactions, including gifts and JDAs, exceeding Rs 20 lakh, PAN must be quoted.
PAN will now be mandatory for all insurance premium payments, regardless of amount. Currently, PAN is required if the premium is above Rs 50,000 in a fiscal year.
However, PAN will be required for hotel/ event payments above Rs 1 lakh per transaction, against the current Rs 50,000.
This replaces the earlier fragmented daily or transaction-based limits and introduces a more annualised reporting structure.
2. Cash Deposits & Withdrawals: Annual Threshold Introduced
Currently, PAN is required for cash deposits exceeding Rs 50,000 in a day. The draft rules shift focus to an annual aggregate threshold of Rs 10 lakh for both deposits and withdrawals.
This could mean tighter tracking of cash-heavy transactions while reducing paperwork for smaller daily banking activities.
3. HRA Benefits Expanded to More Cities
In a major relief for urban salaried taxpayers, Bengaluru, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad have been proposed to be treated as metro cities for House Rent Allowance (HRA) purposes.
This increases the HRA exemption cap to 50% of basic salary (from 40%) for employees living in these cities, potentially reducing tax liability for lakhs of professionals.
4. Higher Tax-Free Perquisite Limits
The draft rules enhance tax-free limits for certain employer-provided benefits, including official vehicles and employer-provided meals.
The earlier provisions were scattered and outdated. These have now been consolidated and rationalised to reflect current costs and business practices.
5. Property Transactions Threshold Raised
The PAN reporting threshold for immovable property transactions has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
Importantly, this now explicitly includes gift transactions, joint development agreements (JDAs), and stamp value-based transactions.
This aligns reporting requirements more closely with prevailing property values.
6. Insurance Premium: PAN Now Mandatory for All
Earlier, PAN was required only if the annual insurance premium exceeded Rs 50,000. Under the draft rules, PAN will be mandatory for all insurance premium payments, regardless of amount. This may increase traceability of high-value policies and prevent misuse.
7. Vehicle Purchases: Two-Wheelers Included
Previously, PAN was required for all motor vehicles except two-wheelers. Now, the rule shifts to a value-based threshold of Rs 5 lakh, and it includes motorcycles and two-wheelers. This aligns compliance requirements with vehicle price escalation.
8. Crypto Exchanges Face Wider Reporting Requirements
Acknowledging the growing digital asset ecosystem, the draft rules expand information-sharing requirements for crypto exchanges. This could mean tighter reporting standards, improved traceability of crypto trades, and greater alignment with anti-tax evasion mechanisms.
9. CBDC Recognised as Valid Electronic Payment Mode
The draft rules formally recognise Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as a valid electronic mode of payment. The Reserve Bank of India has already introduced the Digital Rupee in pilot phases. Recognition under tax rules integrates CBDC into mainstream tax compliance frameworks.
10. Massive Structural Simplification: Rules & Forms Reduced
One of the biggest structural reforms is simplification:
Rules reduced from 511 to 333
Prescribed forms reduced from 399 to 190
Provisions earlier scattered across multiple rules have been consolidated into topic-based frameworks. Operational details are increasingly moved to Schedules, making the rulebook shorter and more navigable.
March 15, 2026, 16:17 IST
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Eli Lilly’s next-generation obesity drug retatrutide clears first late-stage diabetes trial
Eli Lilly on Thursday said its next-generation obesity drug retatrutide cleared its first late-stage trial on Type 2 diabetes patients, helping them manage their blood sugar levels and lose weight.
The drug lowered hemoglobin A1c — a key measure of blood sugar levels — by an average of 1.7% to 2% across different doses at 40 weeks compared to placebo, meeting the study’s main goal. Patients started the trial with an A1c in the range of 7% to 9.5%, and were not taking other diabetes medications.
Retatrutide also met the study’s second goal, helping patients at the highest dose lose an average of 16.8% of their weight, or 36.6 pounds, at 40 weeks, when evaluating only patients who stayed on the drug. When analyzing all participants, including those who discontinued treatment, the highest dose of the drug helped patients lose 15.3% of their weight.
Patients with Type 2 diabetes historically struggle to lose weight, so Lilly is “very excited” to see that the drug led to both a competitive drop in blood sugar levels and significant weight loss, Ken Custer, president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, said in an interview.
The company was also “very pleased” with the relatively low discontinuation rates due to side effects, which were up to 5%, he added.
They are the second late-stage results to date on retatrutide, which works differently from existing injections and appears to be more effective, at least for weight loss. Lilly is betting big on retatrutide as the next pillar of its obesity portfolio after its blockbuster weight loss injection Zepbound and its upcoming pill, orforglipron.
But Lilly has yet to file for approval for the drug for obesity or diabetes. The company expects to report findings from seven additional phase three trials on the drug by the end of the year.
There are no head-to-head trials of retatrutide against other drugs, making it difficult to directly compare efficacy.
Still, retatrutide’s A1C reduction doesn’t appear to be the greatest Lilly has seen within its portfolio: The highest dose of Zepbound lowered the measure by more than 2% at 40 weeks in two separate trials on diabetes patients.
But Custer said retatrutide’s A1C reduction is still “very, very strong” compared to other diabetes medications that don’t target gut hormones.
He also said that having options in the obesity and diabetes space will be important because “not everybody is going to be helped with or satisfied with the same treatment.” Choosing which drug to take will depend on “individualized tailoring of solutions and patients,” particularly earlier in their diabetes treatment, he added.
For example, Custer said patients who want to regulate their blood sugar could benefit from either Zepbound or retatrutide. But if they are looking to lose more weight, the latter might be a better option, he said.
In the two separate diabetes trials, Zepbound helped patients lose slightly less weight than retatrutide did. In one study called SURPASS-2, the highest dose of Zepbound helped patients lose an average of 13.1% of their weight at 40 weeks. In the other study, SURPASS-1, the highest dose helped patients lose an average of 11% of their weight at the 40-week mark.
Retatrutide’s safety profile was similar to other injectable diabetes and obesity drugs, primarily causing gastrointestinal side effects. Around 26.5% of patients on the highest dose experienced nausea, while roughly 22.8% and 17.6% had diarrhea and vomiting, respectively.
Low rates of patients experienced dysesthesia, which is an unpleasant nerve sensation.
Dubbed the “triple G” drug, retatrutide works by mimicking three hunger-regulating hormones – GLP-1, GIP and glucagon – rather than just one or two like existing treatments. That appears to have more potent effects on a person’s appetite and satisfaction with food than other treatments.
Tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound, mimics GLP-1 and GIP. Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, mimics only GLP-1.
As retatrutide inches closer to the market, Novo is racing to catch up to Lilly. In March 2025, Novo said it agreed to pay up to $2 billion for the rights to an early experimental drug from the Chinese pharmaceutical company United Laboratories International.
Novo’s newly acquired drug is a clear potential competitor to retatrutide because it similarly uses a three-pronged approach to promoting weight loss and regulating blood sugar. But Novo’s treatment is much earlier in development, meaning it will take several years before it reaches patients.
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