Income Tax Act 2025 transition

The change does not erase earlier periods

The 2025 Act operates from 1 April 2026. Earlier income periods and related proceedings remain subject to the savings framework. A task performed after that date is not necessarily governed only by the new Act.

Build a process-level map

List each open return, payment, withholding statement and proceeding. Record its income period, legal framework, form or portal workflow and responsible person. Preserve the original references on historical records.

• Inventory open matters before changing templates.
• Check the applicable form version for each process.
• Separate current payment instructions from old-year case files.
• Record the basis for carrying forward an election or approval.

Example: one team, two workstreams

A finance team may be preparing earlier-period return records while estimating current-year payments. Give those workstreams explicit period labels and separate supporting schedules so a payment or certificate is not allocated merely by the date it was processed.

What to retain

Keep filed forms, acknowledgements, computations, challans and orders with their original year labels. A transition register should help find the old evidence, not replace it. Ask for a specific assessment where a saved right, pending proceeding or conflicting reference is involved.

A working register for the finance team

Use one row per process or open matter. A single label on a client folder is not enough when the same entity has current payments, an earlier return and a pending notice. The following is a suggested internal record, not a prescribed tax form.

Period and task

Identify the income period and whether the task is a return, withholding statement, payment, refund or proceeding.

Governing reference

Record the provision or official instruction used for that task and the source checked.

Evidence and version

Link the computation, filed form or challan to its original acknowledgement. Mark working drafts separately.

Owner and next action

Name the person checking the workflow, the unresolved question and the date for the next internal review.

Check templates before using them again

Select one recurring process, such as the preparation of a payment working. Compare its year labels, provision references, approval steps and evidence links with the current workflow. Ask the responsible person to review the revised template before it replaces the working copy.

Keep a short change note explaining what was changed and why. A renamed column does not prove that the underlying computation or filing process is correct. If a notice cites an earlier provision, retain that reference in the case file while the applicable savings position is assessed.

Use the tax-year and assessment-year guide for period terminology. For a review of existing processes, see income-tax transition support.