Direct Taxes Law & Practice | Professional Edition

Direct Taxes Law & Practice (Professional Edition) – 74th Edition | 2026

Direct Taxes Law & Practice (Professional Edition) is the flagship treatise on Indian direct taxation by Dr Vinod K. Singhania and Dr Kapil Singhania, first published in August 1981 and now in its 74th Edition.

This Edition marks the most significant revision in the work's four-decade history. The entire text has been reconstructed around the Income-tax Act 2025, which supersedes the Income-tax Act 1961 with effect from 1st April 2026, read with the Income-tax Rules 2026, which replace the Income-tax Rules 1962.

The law stated is as amended by the Finance Act 2026 and the Taxation & Other Laws (Amendment) Act 2026, and is updated up to 10th August 2026. The commentary incorporates the Central Board of Direct Taxes' Office Memorandum dated 6th July 2026, including a ten-point clarification on the conduct of proceedings straddling the two statutes. It also sets out the Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme 2026 in full working detail.

As the authors observe, the Income-tax Act 2025 is vast, intricate and ever-evolving, and for practitioners the true challenge lies not merely in mastering its statutory provisions, but in applying them to real-world scenarios with clarity, precision and confidence.

The work has accordingly been thoroughly rewritten rather than renumbered. Wherever a provision of the 2025 Act has an antecedent in the 1961 Act, the discussion carries that antecedent in brackets alongside. This convention is observed throughout the headings, sub-headings, tables, footnotes, case-law notes and computation lines within the case studies themselves.

A practitioner accustomed to reasoning in terms of sections 10, 32, 45, 48, 80C, 139, 143(3) or 194J may therefore locate the corresponding proposition within the new architecture without interruption.

This Edition is designed to serve as the single work to which a practitioner turns when a question must be answered correctly, promptly and with authority.

Who Is This Book For?

• Practising Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries and Cost Accountants handling return filing, tax audit, TDS/TCS compliance, assessments, appeals and advisory work
• Advocates, Tax Counsel and Litigators appearing before the JCIT(A)/CIT(A), the Appellate Tribunal, the High Courts and the Supreme Court, particularly upon transitional questions spanning both statutes
• In-House Tax Teams, CFOs, Finance Controllers and Corporate Tax Managers responsible for corporate tax positions, MAT/AMT, withholding obligations, group restructuring and disclosure
• Transfer Pricing and International Tax Specialists advising upon associated enterprises, arm's length pricing, safe harbour rules, APAs, secondary adjustments, thin capitalisation and non-resident taxation
• Advisors to Non-Profit Organisations and Trusts, Co-operative Societies, Firms and LLPs, given the extent to which the 2025 Act recasts the charitable-institution regime
• Departmental Officers and Revenue-Side Professionals requiring the statutory position, the Board's circulars and the judicial interpretation of a provision in a single place
• Academics, Researchers and Advanced Students of the CA Final, CS Professional, CMA Final, LLB/LLM, M.Com and comparable programmes
• Those Managing the 1961-to-2025 Transition, including carry-forward losses, unabsorbed depreciation, MAT/AMT credit, pending proceedings, options already exercised, past orders, expired limitation and search cases

About the Present Publication

The Present Publication is the 74th Edition for Tax Year 2026-27 and Assessment Year 2026-27. It is authored by Dr Vinod K. Singhania & Dr Kapil Singhania.

Key Features of the Book:

• Comprehensively Rewritten: In line with the Income-tax Act 2025 and the Income-tax Rules 2026. Chapters have been restructured rather than renumbered, with material consolidated or redistributed in accordance with the new statute.
• Section-wise Cross-Referencer of Old & New Provisions: Maps every provision of the 1961 Act to its counterpart in the 2025 Act and to the paragraph of the book in which it is discussed. The referencer operates in both directions and includes provisions that are new and without antecedent as well as provisions of the repealed Act that have no successor.
• Amendments at a Glance: More than 50 pages identifying what has changed and where each change is discussed. Includes an 85-item referencer covering:
  • Amendments introduced by the Finance Act 2026
  • Structural changes brought about by the Income-tax Act 2025
  • Changes introduced by the Income-tax Rules 2026, presented in before-and-after tabular form
• Route-Map Tables: Placed at the head of the more substantial chapters, listing every topic against its section, antecedent section and paragraph number, enabling quick navigation through lengthy chapters.
• Theoretical Discussion Supplemented by 600+ Case Studies: Covers an exhaustive range of issues and provides solutions to complex problems with reference to the latest case law. More than 450 carry a citable identifier, and 445 are worked through to a labelled solution accompanied by a full computation table.
• Lucid & To-the-Point Explanations: The matter is arranged in numbered paragraphs and sub-paragraphs to conserve the reader's time and effort, while debatable issues are deliberated through to their logical conclusion.
• Tax Planning Hints: Provided wherever the occasion arises. Six chapters conclude with a dedicated planning paragraph, while a full chapter develops the subject in its own right, distinguishing tax planning, avoidance, evasion and tax management.
• Gist of Relevant Circulars, Clarifications & Notifications issued by CBDT: Covering January 2018 to February 2026. A 225-page digest arranged provision-by-provision, allowing the departmental position on a section to be read alongside the commentary.
• Gist of Landmark Rulings of Supreme Court/High Courts: Covering 2018 to February 2026. A 159-page digest under more than 200 section headings, recording the status of Special Leave Petitions. Across the commentary and both digests, the work carries upwards of 6,000 reported citations.
• Frequently Asked Questions: Covers the computation of salary income and the mode of computation of annual value, including numerical demonstrations addressing the methodology adopted in the book.
• Ready Reckoners: Includes a Tax Rates annexure, opening with a sixteen-step computation format and carrying rate tables for every category of assessee, together with a complete Rates of Depreciation annexure.

Structure of the Book:

• A Research Layer Precedes the Commentary: Approximately 450 of the work's 1,892 pages precede Chapter 1, covering abbreviations, the Section-wise Index, Amendments at a Glance and the two digests. These enable the reader to approach the work using an old section number, new section number, circular, judgment, form or simply the question of what has changed during the year.
• Numbered Paragraphs Constitute the Unit of Reference: The commentary runs in numbered paragraphs from 1 to 779, subdivided into approximately 2,500 sub-paragraphs across as many as four levels of depth. Every internal cross-reference is to a paragraph rather than a page.
• Each Topic Follows a Uniform Design: The rule is stated; exceptions and contested readings are examined with the support of circulars and case law; the argument is resolved; the proposition is demonstrated through a worked case study with a full computation; and a planning note is added where warranted.
• The Allocation of Space Reflects Practical Significance: Profits and gains of business or profession occupies 251 pages, with depreciation alone subdivided into approximately 90 sub-paragraphs. Capital gains occupies 118 pages, salaries 90, tax deduction at source 86, and return of income and assessment 77. Procedural chapters are correspondingly concise, with refunds occupying two pages and advance payment of tax five pages.