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University · Reference · From 1 Apr 2026

Income Tax Act 2025 Form Converter.

The Income-tax Rules 2026 renumber the forms every practitioner touches — Form 16, 26AS, the quarterly TDS returns, the tax audit report. Pick an old form and get its verified successor, the governing new-Act section and the transition notes. Anything we could not verify says so honestly.

Pick the form you know.
Old form (Income-tax Rules, 1962)

11 of 14 mappings verified against published Income-tax Rules 2026 coverage as of 1 October 2026. Old forms continue for FY 2025-26 and earlier years under the Sec 536 savings — the new numbers apply from tax year 2026-27.

Why this matters

Two form systems run in parallel.

FY 2025-26 filings run on the old forms while tax year 2026-27 runs on the new ones — the same firm files Form 24Q and Form 138 in the same calendar year. A form-number slip in a client deliverable is the most visible transition error there is.

Keep going

The rest of the transition franchise.

Section mapper (1961 → 2025)Tax year converter

Filing TDS this quarter? Check the TDS rate finder for FY 2026-27.

How the Income-tax Rules 2026 renumber the forms

The Income Tax Act 2025 replaces the Income-tax Act 1961 from 1 April 2026, and the Income-tax Rules 2026 replace the 1962 Rules alongside it. Because the Act renumbers its sections (44AB → 63, 192 → 392, the 194 series → 393), the forms that hang off those sections are renumbered too: Form 16 becomes Form 130, Form 16A becomes 131, the quarterly TDS returns 24Q/26Q/27Q become 138/140/144, the TCS return 27EQ becomes 143, and the annual statement 26AS becomes Form 168.

Two consolidations go beyond renumbering. The four challan-cum-statements (26QB, 26QC, 26QD, 26QE) merge into a single Form 141 with separate schedules, and the tax audit trio 3CA/3CB/3CD merges into one Form 26 (Rule 47), filed under Sec 63 of the new Act. Its Parts C and D are the two alternative audit reports — Part C corresponding to the old 3CA (accounts already audited under another law) and Part D to the old 3CB (accounts not so audited) — with the statement of particulars and its trigger-based schedules carrying the old 3CD content.

The boundary is the tax year, not the filing date. Anything relating to FY 2025-26 or earlier — the last 1961-Act cycle, AY 2026-27 — stays on the old forms even when filed after April 2026, because Sec 536 of the 2025 Act saves those proceedings under the repealed law. The new numbers apply to tax year 2026-27 onwards.

Worked example — one deductor, two form systems, calendar 2026

A company deducts TDS on salaries and contractor payments through calendar year 2026. Its filings in May–July 2026 straddle the boundary.

Inputs
Q4 FY 2025-26 salary return (due May 2026)Form 24Q — old rules
FY 2025-26 salary certificates (June 2026)Form 16 — old rules
Q1 tax year 2026-27 salary return (July 2026)Form 138 — new rules
Q1 contractor-payment return (July 2026)Form 140, Sec 393(1) payment codes
Output
Boundary ruleSums paid or credited on / after 1 Apr 2026 → new forms
Certificates from TY 2026-27Form 130 (salary) / Form 131 (non-salary)
Control neededPer-deductor mapping sheet, both form families tracked
The same TAN files Form 24Q in May and Form 138 in July of the same year. The determinant is the period the sum was paid or credited in, not the filing date — which is why firms keep a per-deductor transition working paper for the first year.

Common mistakes

Using the new form numbers for FY 2025-26 work
The last 1961-Act cycle (FY 2025-26 / AY 2026-27) files on the old forms even after 1 April 2026 — Q4 TDS returns, Form 16 issuance, the 3CA/3CB/3CD tax audit (ordinarily due 30 September 2026; extended by CBDT to 21 October 2026 — press release of 28 September 2026). The new numbers start with tax year 2026-27.
Treating Form 26 as just a renamed 3CD
Form 26 consolidates 3CA, 3CB and 3CD into one document in Parts, with trigger-based schedules — Parts C and D being the alternative audit reports for the old 3CA and 3CB situations, of which only one is given. Report shells and DMS templates need rebuilding, not renaming — and its first filing season is 2027, for tax year 2026-27.
Renumbering without re-mapping payment codes
Form 140 is not a relabelled 26Q: the underlying 194-series sections collapse into the Sec 393(1) table with serialized payment codes. TDS software must map old sections to codes; verify against the utility before the first quarterly filing.
Guessing unnotified successors
Not every successor is verifiably notified yet (the ITR series for tax year 2026-27, Form 15CB, the appeal forms). Citing a guessed number in a client deliverable is worse than citing the old one with a transition note — check the e-filing utility.

Frequently asked questions

What is the new number for Form 16?+
Form 130 under the Income-tax Rules 2026 — the salary TDS certificate for tax deducted under Sec 392 of the Income Tax Act 2025, applicable from tax year 2026-27. Form 16 continues for FY 2025-26 salary TDS. Form 16A (non-salary) becomes Form 131.
What replaces Form 26AS?+
Form 168 — the annual information statement on the deductee side under the Income-tax Rules 2026. The content continues the 26AS / AIS regime; the number changes with the new rules from tax year 2026-27.
What are the new TDS return form numbers?+
Form 24Q (salary) becomes Form 138, Form 26Q (residents, non-salary) becomes Form 140, Form 27Q (non-residents) becomes Form 144, and the TCS return 27EQ becomes Form 143. The challan-cum-statements 26QB/26QC/26QD/26QE consolidate into Form 141 with separate schedules.
What happens to Forms 3CA, 3CB and 3CD?+
They consolidate into a single Form 26 under Sec 63 of the Income Tax Act 2025 (the old Sec 44AB), with trigger-based schedules. Per the Department’s FAQ, Parts C and D of Form 26 are the two alternative audit reports — Part C corresponding to the old 3CA and Part D to the old 3CB — not an “opinion” part and a “certification” part. It first applies for tax year 2026-27; FY 2025-26 tax audits still file 3CA/3CB/3CD.
What happened to Forms 15G and 15H?+
They merge into a single Form 121 — one self-declaration for no deduction of tax covering both the below-60 declaration (old 15G) and the senior-citizen declaration (old 15H), from tax year 2026-27.
Have the ITR forms been renumbered too?+
Not verifiably yet. The ITR-1 to ITR-7 forms notified in March 2026 are for AY 2026-27 — the last 1961-Act year. Successor numbering for tax year 2026-27 returns (filed in 2027) had not been verifiably notified as of our last review; check the e-filing utility.

Authoritative sources

CBDT / Income-tax e-filing portal (Income-tax Rules 2026) — The e-filing utility and CBDT notifications are the authority on form numbering. This converter ships verified pairs only, checked against published Rules-2026 coverage as of 1 October 2026; unverified successors are flagged rather than guessed.
Always confirm against the latest version of the source. Regulations evolve and amendments are common.
Related calculators
Income Tax Act 2025 section mapper →Tax year converter (PY/AY → tax year) →TDS rate finder FY 2026-27 →TDS transition working paper (Sec 393) →
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Last reviewed: 2026-10-01 · For informational purposes only — not professional advice.