The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026

What it does

The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026 is Act No. 21 of 2026. It is dated 17 August 2026 and was published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary by the Ministry of Law and Justice. By its title it amends taxation law and some other laws. This page does not set out its provisions in full. It records the part the site has read and the reason the Act is on the site's list.

The Act is relevant because of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (No. 30 of 2025). That Act, which says in section 1(3) that it comes into force on 1 April 2026, repealed the Income-tax Act, 1961 under section 536(1). A tax year that began on 1 April 2026 is therefore governed by the 2025 Act, and the 2026 amending Act is read with it.

Who it binds

It binds those to whom the laws it amends apply. On the part the site has read, that means taxpayers under the Income-tax Act, 2025 and those who deduct tax from payments to them. Whether and how it binds anyone else depends on its other provisions, which this page does not describe.

What has changed, and when

• The Income-tax Act, 2025 was published in the Gazette of India on 21 August 2025 and came into force on 1 April 2026, replacing the 1961 Act.
• The Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2026 followed on 17 August 2026.
• The site's note on non-resident property sales records that the Act does not touch sections 197, 393, 395 or 397 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The note also says that the Finance Act, 2026 had not been read, so the surcharge and the health and education cess are not stated there.

What turns on it in practice

For a non-resident Indian or an overseas citizen of India cardholder who sells a flat in India and sends the money abroad, the questions are on the 2025 Act, and the amending Act does not change the sections the site's note relies on. Section 393(2) governs the buyer's duty to withhold tax on a payment to a non-resident, and section 197 charges long-term gains on a sale of property at 12.5 per cent.

An amending Act can change a provision after a note was written, so the position for a sale in the tax year that began on 1 April 2026 rests on the text in force on the date of the sale and on the Finance Act for the year.