Unlearn, Relearn, Re-cite: A Practitioner’s Section Finder for the Income-tax Act, 2025
Unlearn, Relearn, Re-cite: A Practitioner’s Section Finder for the Income-tax Act, 2025
I qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2012. Between 2008 and 2011, during my CA curriculum, I learnt the Income-tax Act, 1961 section by section: 15 to 17 for salary, 22 to 27 for house property, 28 to 44DB for business, 45 to 55A for capital gains, and Chapter VI-A for deductions. Those numbers became second nature over fourteen years of practice.
With the Income-tax Act, 2025 now in force, it is time to unlearn and relearn. A basic reading shows the concepts are largely the same, but the format, the numbering and the arrangement are new. This post is my first step: a map of where each familiar concept now sits.
"The law has not changed its soul, only its address. Section 80C is now section 123; section 143 is now section 270. The concepts stay, the citations move."
The New Act at a Glance
The Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026 (section 1(3)) and replaces the Income-tax Act, 1961. It runs to 536 sections in 23 Chapters, with 16 Schedules; "previous year" and "assessment year" give way to a single "tax year".
The numbering is entirely new, so the first job for any practitioner is to re-learn where each provision now sits. This post maps the five heads of income, exemptions, deductions, assessment, appeals and penalties to their new section ranges, with the 1961 equivalents alongside.
The Section Finder: Ten Topics, New Addresses
Topic | Chapter / Part (ITA 2025) | Sections (ITA 2025) | Equivalent (ITA 1961) |
|---|---|---|---|
Income from Salary | Ch IV, Part B | 15 to 19 | 15 to 17 |
Income from House Property | Ch IV, Part C | 20 to 25 | 22 to 27 |
Profits and Gains of Business or Profession | Ch IV, Part D | 26 to 66 | 28 to 44DB |
Capital Gains | Ch IV, Part E | 67 to 91 | 45 to 55A |
Income from Other Sources | Ch IV, Part F | 92 to 95 | 56 to 59 |
Exempt income | Ch III (with Schedules II to VIII) | 11 to 12 | 10, 10A to 13A |
Deductions | Ch VIII | 122 to 154 | 80A to 80U (Ch VI-A) |
Return of income and PAN | Ch XV | 262 to 267 | 139 to 140B |
Assessment (incl. reassessment and block assessment) | Ch XVI | 268 to 301 | 142 to 158BI |
Appeals, revision and ADR | Ch XVIII | 356 to 389 | 246 to 264, 245MA, 245N to 245V |
Penalties | Ch XXI | 439 to 472 | 270A to 275 |
The heads themselves are listed in section 13 (old section 14), and section 14 (old section 14A) disallows expenditure relating to exempt income.
Zooming In: Key Sections Under the Five Heads
Head | Provision | ITA 2025 | ITA 1961 |
|---|---|---|---|
Salary | Charge of salary income | 15, 16 | 15 |
Salary | Perquisite | 17 | 17(2) |
Salary | Profits in lieu of salary | 18 | 17(3) |
Salary | Standard deduction, entertainment allowance, professional tax | 19 | 16 |
House Property | Annual value | 21 | 23 |
House Property | Standard deduction 30% and interest | 22 | 24 |
House Property | Arrears and unrealised rent | 23 | 25A |
Business / Profession | Depreciation | 33 | 32 |
Business / Profession | General deduction | 34 | 37(1) |
Business / Profession | Disallowances (TDS default, cash payments) | 35, 36 | 40, 40A |
Business / Profession | Actual payment basis (incl. MSME dues) | 37 | 43B |
Business / Profession | Deemed profits | 38 | 41 |
Business / Profession | Presumptive taxation | 58, 61 | 44AD, 44ADA, 44AE, 44B, 44BB |
Business / Profession | Books of account and tax audit | 62, 63 | 44AA, 44AB |
Capital Gains | Charge | 67 | 45 |
Capital Gains | Transactions not regarded as transfer | 70 | 47 |
Capital Gains | Mode of computation | 72 | 48 |
Capital Gains | Slump sale | 77 | 50B |
Capital Gains | Stamp duty value as consideration | 78 | 50C |
Capital Gains | Exemptions (residential house, bonds, agricultural land) | 82 to 86 | 54, 54B, 54D, 54EC, 54F |
Other Sources | Charge (gifts, dividends, interest) | 92 | 56 |
Other Sources | Deductions and disallowances | 93, 94 | 57, 58 |
Other Sources | Profits chargeable | 95 | 59 |
Beyond the Heads: Exemptions, Deductions, Assessment, Appeals and Penalties
Exempt income. Section 11 keeps the whole of old section 10 out of the body of the Act: the exempt items now sit in Schedules II to VII, available only if their conditions are met. Section 12 with Schedule VIII covers political parties and electoral trusts (old section 13A). Registered non-profit organisations have their own code in Chapter XVII Part B, sections 332 to 355 (old sections 11 to 13 and 12AB).
Area | Provision | ITA 2025 | ITA 1961 |
|---|---|---|---|
Deductions | LIC, PF, PPF, ELSS etc. (list in Schedule XV) | 123 | 80C, 80CCC |
Deductions | NPS contributions | 124 | 80CCD |
Deductions | Health insurance | 126 | 80D |
Deductions | Education loan interest | 129 | 80E |
Deductions | Donations | 133 | 80G |
Deductions | Rent paid | 134 | 80GG |
Deductions | Additional employee cost | 146 | 80JJAA |
Deductions | Co-operative societies | 149 | 80P |
Deductions | Interest on deposits | 153 | 80TTA, 80TTB |
Return | Return of income | 263 | 139 |
Return | Self-assessment tax / updated return | 266, 267 | 140A, 140B |
Assessment | Inquiry before assessment | 268 | 142 |
Assessment | Intimation and scrutiny assessment | 270 | 143 |
Assessment | Best judgment / faceless assessment | 271, 273 | 144, 144B |
Assessment | Dispute Resolution Panel | 275 | 144C |
Assessment | Reassessment and its procedure | 279 to 285 | 147 to 151A |
Assessment | Time limits / rectification | 286, 287 | 153, 154 |
Assessment | Block assessment in search cases | 292 to 301 | 158B to 158BI |
Appeals | Joint Commissioner (Appeals) / Commissioner (Appeals) | 356 to 360 | 246 to 251 |
Appeals | Appellate Tribunal | 361 to 364 | 252 to 255 |
Appeals | High Court / Supreme Court | 365 to 368 | 260A to 262 |
Revision | Revision by Commissioner | 377, 378 | 263, 264 |
ADR | Dispute Resolution Committee / Board for Advance Rulings | 379 to 389 | 245MA, 245N to 245V |
Penalties | Under-reporting and misreporting | 439 | 270A |
Penalties | Waiver of penalty and immunity | 440 | 270AA |
Penalties | Failure to keep books / TP documentation | 441, 442 | 271A, 271AA |
Penalties | Failure to deduct / collect tax | 448, 449 | 271C, 271CA |
Penalties | Cash loan, repayment and receipt | 450 to 453 | 271D, 271E, 271DA, 271DB |
Penalties | Reduction, waiver and reasonable cause | 469, 470 | 273A, 273B |
Penalties | Procedure and limitation | 471, 472 | 274, 275 |
The current text shows sections 443 and 447 omitted by Act No. 4 of 2026 with effect from 1 April 2026, so expect gaps in the penalty numbering.
Source
Section ranges are taken from the text of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (No. 30 of 2025) as amended by the Finance Act, 2026 (Act No. 4 of 2026), in the Income Tax Department's consolidated text dated 25 August 2026. The 1961 column is a functional mapping for orientation; always read the new section itself before citing it in a reply, return or appeal.
Relearning is a daily habit. I will be working through the new Act one section at a time, and sharing what I find along the way.
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