Income-Tax Act 1961 is the authoritative and complete edition of India's principal direct tax statute, now in its 72nd 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 72nd 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 voluntary disclosure framework introduced under Chapter IV of the Finance Act 2026.
The Edition is designed to serve simultaneously as a legislative reference, compliance tool, research base, and professional quick-reckoner. Its architecture—dual section-page indexing, comprehensive amendment-history footnoting, and an integrated Appendix of allied provisions—makes it a complete single-volume direct tax reference for most day-to-day professional needs.
Who Should Use This Book?
- 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 concessional corporate tax regimes under Sections 115BAA, 115BAB, 115BAC, 115BAD, and 115BAE.
- Revenue Officers and ITAT Members: For an up-to-date and 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.
Present Publication: 72nd Edition | 2026, updated to incorporate the latest amendments introduced by the Finance Act 2026.
Author/Editor: Taxmann's Editorial Board
Key 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, effective or retrospective date, and exact nature of the change, including insertion, substitution, or omission.
- 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. This Edition captures both sets of amendments, making it an important reference during the current transitional period where both statutes co-exist operationally.
- Significant Finance Act 2026 Amendments Incorporated: Key changes captured across the text include:
- Amendments to Sections 92CA, 139, 140B, 143, 143B, 143C, 148, 150, 153, 153B, 220, 222, 245MA, and 254.
- Significant Overhaul of the Penalties Chapter: Amendments to Sections 270A, 270AA, 271, 271B, 272, and related provisions, including substitutions for penalty provisions previously covered under Sections 271BB, 271BBB, 271BBBB, 271BBBBB, and 271C.
- New Sections Inserted: Sections 145A, 235-I, and 354A.
- Omission of Part V: Arrest and detention of defaulters provisions from the Second Schedule to the Act, effective 30 March 2026.
- Amendments to Sections 279, 280, 283, 286, 295, 296, 332, 349, 351, 352, 354, 393, and 394.
- Revised STT Rates Integrated: The Finance Act 2026 revises Securities Transaction Tax rates. Updated rates for options in securities, exercise of options, futures, and equity-oriented fund units are incorporated in the fully amended text of Division Three, with footnotes recording pre-amendment rates and effective dates.
- Foreign Assets of Small Taxpayers Disclosure Scheme 2026: 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. The Arrangement for Division One covers 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.
- Subject Index: A detailed alphabetical and topical Subject Index to the Income-tax Act 1961 supports keyword-based and topic-led navigation alongside the section-number index.
Division-wise Coverage
- 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 and 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 under Chapter VII of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004, incorporating Finance Act 2026 revisions to STT rates on options, futures, 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
- Full text of the newly introduced scheme providing a one-time disclosure framework for small taxpayers with undisclosed foreign assets.
Structure of the Book
The book is organised across five self-contained Divisions, each prefaced with its own Arrangement of Sections or Paragraphs. Division One is extensively annotated and includes a 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 recording the amendment history of each sub-section, clause, or proviso, including the effective date and 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.
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