Income-Tax Act, 2025 Takes Effect as Karsati Launches New Income Tax E-Filing Portal

(INDIA) — India enacted the Income-tax Act, 2025, replacing the 1961 law, and launched a revamped Income Tax e-Filing portal on April 1, 2026, in a move to simplify compliance through clearer language, structured content and digital tools.

The change pairs a rewritten tax statute with a redesigned filing system, tying legal text, rules, forms and taxpayer services more closely to a digital process. Together, the new law and portal mark a broad administrative shift in how taxpayers read, file and track their income-tax obligations.

Officials positioned the rollout around easier use. The Income-tax Act, 2025 uses plain language and an organized structure for easier understanding, while the portal adds guided features intended to help taxpayers move through filing and follow-up tasks in one place.

Parliament passed the new Act on August 1, 2025, and the President approved it on August 21, 2025. That legislative timetable set the stage for the operational launch that followed on April 1, 2026.

Alongside the statute, authorities introduced the Income-tax Rules, 2026 and placed new, simpler tax forms on the portal. The combination gives taxpayers a new legal framework and a filing interface built around it, rather than requiring them to rely on the older 1961 law.

The redesign centers on structure. Users see section-wise content with cross-linked references, comparison tools, frequently asked questions and guided navigation intended to make the material easier to move through than a conventional static text.

Interactive features sit alongside that legal content. The portal includes a Form Wizard, tutorials, live streaming and surveys, widening the range of ways users can seek help or work through filing steps.

A multilingual virtual assistant called Karsati adds real-time Hindi and English support. Accessibility improvements for diverse users are also part of the redesign, reflecting the portal’s push toward transparency and efficiency.

Taxpayers can access the services through the Income Tax e-Filing portal. The system supports online and offline filing for ITR-5, ITR-6 and ITR-7.

The portal also handles pre-filled forms, e-verification, payments, refund tracking, rectifications and grievances. That puts filing, confirmation and post-filing follow-up into a single digital system rather than splitting those steps across separate processes.

For authentication, taxpayers log in with a PAN and password. The system also uses two-factor authentication through an OTP sent to a registered mobile number or email, though that feature was initially disabled for updates.

E-verification options span Aadhaar OTP, EVC, net banking and DSC. Those choices give taxpayers several routes to complete the filing cycle after submission, a step that remains central to whether a return moves forward in processing.

The portal launch fits into a broader digital-first tax administration model that India has been building in recent years. Among the measures already in place is the Faceless Assessment Scheme, which the government coupled with AI/ML integration for efficiency.

That digital direction also includes the Annual Information Statement, or AIS, and the Taxpayer Information Summary, or TIS. Those tools support instant refunds and auto-filled returns by pulling together taxpayer data for use in return preparation and processing.

Recent filing requirements have also expanded the range of disclosures that taxpayers must make through the system. Those mandated disclosures cover virtual digital assets, foreign income, capital gains and deductions.

The tax framework has also changed in other areas tied to the online economy. India repealed the 6% equalization levy on online ads in April 2025 and repealed the 2% levy on e-commerce in August 2024.

Usage numbers point to the scale of the digital system the new Act and portal now support. More than 7.5 crore ITRs were filed on time, and taxpayers were reminded to e-verify within 30 days.

Collections data also show the tax administration operating at rising volume. Net direct tax collections rose 19.88% to ₹18.90 lakh crore in FY 2023–24.

Those figures form the administrative backdrop to the April 1, 2026 portal launch. Authorities are not introducing digital filing into a small or experimental system, but into one already handling tens of millions of returns and large revenue flows.

The new portal’s design reflects that scale by combining legal reference material and filing utilities in a more navigable layout. Section-wise presentation and cross-links are intended to help users move from reading a provision to comparing related parts and then into the filing process itself.

Comparison tools and FAQs add another layer to that structure. They give users a way to check provisions and common questions without leaving the portal, while guided navigation is meant to reduce the need to search through long documents unaided.

The Form Wizard gives the portal a workflow element beyond static text. Tutorials and live streaming bring in explanatory support, while surveys create a feedback loop inside the same system taxpayers use to file returns or monitor actions after filing.

Karsati extends that service model into direct digital assistance. By offering Hindi and English support, the assistant broadens the portal’s reach for users who want help in either language while working through compliance steps.

Accessibility improvements sit within the same effort to widen usability. The changes were introduced as part of a broader push to make the system workable for diverse users, while improving transparency and efficiency in tax administration.

The operational side of the portal goes beyond return submission. Payments, refund tracking, rectifications and grievance handling all appear within the same framework, linking compliance and service functions rather than separating them.

That matters because filing often does not end when a return is uploaded. Taxpayers may need to verify, check a refund, correct an issue or raise a grievance, and the redesigned system is built to cover those stages in one digital chain.

Support remains available through helplines for taxpayers using the portal or dealing with processing questions. The contact numbers are 1800 103 0025, 1800 419 0025 and +91-80-46122000.

The timing of the portal launch also connects to the arrival of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 and the simpler forms published with them. That alignment means the statutory rewrite, subordinate rules and user interface were introduced together rather than in separate phases.

For users of ITR-5, ITR-6 and ITR-7, the portal offers both online and offline filing options. That gives organizations and taxpayers covered by those forms multiple ways to prepare and submit returns within the same system.

Pre-filled forms remain part of the filing architecture, working alongside AIS and TIS. In combination, those tools support a process in which previously available information can populate returns and reduce manual data entry.

The e-verification framework reinforces that digital path after filing. Aadhaar OTP, EVC, net banking and DSC give users different methods to complete verification, while the 30-day reminder cycle keeps that final step in focus.

At login, PAN and password remain the base credentials. Two-factor authentication through OTP on a registered mobile number or email adds a second layer, even though that feature was initially disabled for updates when the system was rolled out.

The April 1, 2026 launch therefore did more than refresh a government website. It connected the new Income-tax Act, 2025 to an operating platform that combines legal text, rules, filing forms, assistance tools, verification methods and post-filing services in a single digital environment.

The shift also closes the chapter on the 1961 law that governed the system for decades. In its place, authorities have put a plain-language statute, a new rules framework and a portal built around guided use, integrated support and digital processing at national scale.

With more than 7.5 crore timely returns already moving through the system and net direct tax collections at ₹18.90 lakh crore in FY 2023–24, the government is tying one of India’s largest administrative functions to a platform where Karsati, pre-filled returns, e-verification and the Income Tax e-Filing portal now sit at the center of compliance under the Income-tax Act, 2025.