Filing season 2026-27 - week 1

The Income Tax Act 2025 came into force on 1 April. Here are the five operational changes a CA practice needs to ingest in week 1.

1. Form 168 replaces Form 26AS

From AY 2027-28 onwards, the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Form 26AS are consolidated into Form 168 - the Tax Passbook. Every TDS deduction, advance tax payment, self-assessment, refund, and high-value transaction now flows into a single passbook view.

Action this week: when reconciling FY 2025-26 returns, your client's data still lives in Form 26AS. From FY 2026-27 onwards, point them to Form 168. Our section page on Form 168 lists every old-form-to-new-form mapping.

2. Section 393 unifies the TDS framework

The IT Act 2025 replaces the scattered Sections 192-206 with a single consolidated Section 393. The rates and thresholds remain unchanged; the change is in the section number that appears on every TDS challan and the unified challan code (1001-1067).

Action this week: update your firm's payroll and AP automation templates to reference Section 393 in the TDS deduction notes. The challan series replaces BSR-based codes; see the new challan codes table.

3. IMS becomes mandatory

The Invoice Management System is now mandatory for every GST taxpayer from 1 April 2026. Inward invoices must be accepted / rejected / marked pending in IMS within 30 days - auto-acceptance kicks in after the window. ITC is locked to IMS-accepted invoices.

Action this week: brief every GST client on the 30-day IMS window. Build a recurring calendar reminder for the 25th of each month - that's the IMS deadline for invoices uploaded in the preceding month's GSTR-1.

4. New tax regime is the default

Under Section 202 (formerly Section 115BAC), the new tax regime is the default for individuals and HUFs. Salaried employees who want the old regime must declare it on Form 10IEA at the time of ITR - and via Form 12BB to the employer for TDS purposes.

Action this week: add a "regime preference" column to your client master. For salaried clients, the deadline to declare to the employer is typically before the first pay-cycle of the FY.

5. ELSS lock-in clarified at 3 years

Following a typo in the early ITR-1 draft, CBDT Circular 4/2026 reconfirmed that ELSS units have a 3-year lock-in (not 5). Our section page on Section 80C / 123 already reflects this; if any internal documentation still says 5 years, update it.

This week's filing deadlines:

• 7 April: TDS / TCS deposit for March 2026
• 10 April: GSTR-7 (TDS under GST), GSTR-8 (TCS)
• 11 April: GSTR-1 (monthly filers, March 2026)
• 13 April: GSTR-1 (quarterly QRMP)
• 20 April: GSTR-3B (monthly)
• 22 April: GSTR-3B (QRMP Cat-1)
• 24 April: GSTR-3B (QRMP Cat-2)
• 30 April: TDS deposit (Section 194-IA / IB), Form 61A, Form 15CC

See you next week - the filing season briefing goes out every Monday at 7 AM IST.