At the beginning of every financial year, there are some changes in rules in the country and it will be the same this year as well. Tomorrow i.e. from April 1, 2026, the rules of some arrangements related to income tax, take home salary, railway ticket, FASTag and credit score will change, which will affect the common people.

 

Here are eight things that will be applicable from April 1.

 

First of all, there will be a change in the rules for filing ITR.

 

The new Income Tax Act, 2025 is going to come into force from April 1, which will replace the old Income Tax Act of 1961. From 1st April, the date for filing ITR 3 and ITR 4 for non-audited taxpayers has been extended to 31st August.

 

Till now, the old tax system in India used to have two different years.

 

One was the financial year (the year in which the income was earned) and the other assessment year (the year in which the return was filed), which caused a lot of confusion.

 

Now in the new Income Tax Act, both of these have been abolished and only the tax year has been kept. That is, the period from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 will be called the tax year 2026-27.

 

Reduction in take-home salaries

 

Four new labour codes may also come into force from April 1. Now it has been made mandatory for companies to keep at least 50 percent of the total salary as basic pay.

 

If your basic salary is 50 per cent less than the total salary, it will increase your contribution to the provident fund and reduce the salary you receive every month.

 

So far, many companies used to keep the share of basic salary low while fixing the salary. Normally, this was 20 to 40 per cent of the total salary.

 

Because of this, less amount was deposited in the provident fund and gratuity of the employees.

 

The amount of gratuity will increase

 

Four new labor laws of the central government are likely to come into force from April 1. However, no official announcement has been made about this yet. But if the new labour laws are implemented, the system of gratuity in the country will also change.

 

Now the share of Basic Pay and DA (Dearness Allowance) in the salary structure will increase, which will increase the benefit of gratuity.

 

Employees will get HRA (House Rent Allowance), but for this, employees will have to provide their landlord's PAN card and proof of rent payment.

 

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to increase the price of annual passes of FASTag.

 

So far, its annual fee was Rs 3,000, which will increase to Rs 3,075 from April 1.

 

The annual pass is for non-commercial vehicles and can be used at around 1,150 toll plazas.

 

Once this fee is paid, it can be used for up to a year or up to 200 toll plaza crossings.

 

Railway ticket cancellation rules are changing from April 1.

 

Now if the ticket is canceled 8 hours to 24 hours before the departure of the train, then 50 percent refund will be given.

 

If the ticket is canceled 24 to 72 hours in advance, 25 percent of the amount will be deducted and the remaining amount will be refunded.

 

Passengers who cancel tickets more than 72 hours before the scheduled departure time of the train will get the maximum refund and only a fixed (flat) cancellation fee will be charged.

 

No refund will be available for cancellation of tickets less than 8 hours in advance.

 

Apart from this, the Railways has said that passengers will now be able to change their boarding point up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time of the train. In cities where there is more than one railway station, it is being considered convenient for passengers.

 

New rules related to PAN card

 

While applying for a PAN card, the Aadhaar card will no longer be considered as proof of date of birth. For this, it will be mandatory to give a birth certificate, class 10 certificate or passport. Apart from this, now the number will be issued on the PAN card according to the Aadhaar card. Therefore, it is important to have the correct information related to Aadhaar. The forms for applying for PAN card will also be new from April 1.

 

Rules related to credit score will change

 

From April 1, 2026, there is also a change in the rules related to credit score. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has ordered banks to report loan-related data to credit information companies on a weekly basis. This order will come into effect from April 1. Till now, this report was given every fortnight. Banks and other lending institutions will have to update the loan data on the scheduled date every month.

 

Tax on Sovereign Gold Bonds?

 

From April 1, there is also a change in the rules related to tax on Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB). Now, those who have bought these bonds from the secondary market, i.e. the stock market, instead of the Reserve Bank, will be charged a long-term capital gains tax of 12.5 percent.

Only those who buy bonds from the RBI and hold them for its entire term will be exempted from capital gains tax.

 

Banks are also going to impose limits on cash withdrawals from ATMs.

 

For example, after five free transactions from HDFC Bank ATMs, cash withdrawals will be charged Rs 23 per transaction.

 

Bandhan Bank customers will be able to make three to five transactions free of cost every month. After this, a fee of Rs 23 will be charged on every transaction.

 

If the transaction fails due to insufficient funds, a charge of Rs 25 will be levied.

 

Punjab National Bank (PNB) has reduced the cash withdrawal limit on some debit cards, which will come into effect from April 1.

 

The Reserve Bank has also changed the rules of digital payment.

From April 1, security checks will be tightened when making payments with UPI, card or wallet.

Now only OTP will not work, but two-factor authentication will be mandatory.