The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified the Income-tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2026, making several changes to the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
The amendments include changes in the rules relating to electronic communication, tax recovery proceedings and registration of valuers and authorised income-tax practitioners.
Some of the changes will be effective retrospectively from April 1, 2026, while others took effect from September 17, 2026, the date of the publication of the notification in the Official Gazette.
Changes in electronic communication
The amendment changes the wording in Rule 176 relating to how certain communications are made.
The words ‘by affixing digital signature’ have been replaced with ‘by way of an electronic communication’..
Changes in tax recovery rules
The CBDT has also amended Rule 225, which deals with tax recovery proceedings.
Several provisions under the rule have been omitted. These include provisions relating to arrest and detention.
The amendment removes the reference to arrest and detention from the relevant provisions of the tax recovery rules.
Deadline for valuers extended
The amendment gives more time to individuals seeking registration as valuers.
Under Rule 246, the earlier deadline of September 30, 2026, has been extended to March 31, 2027.
Now the applicants will have an additional six months to complete the registration process
Deadline for authorised income-tax practitioners extended
A similar extension has been made under Rule 256.
The deadline that was earlier set as September 30, 2026, has now been extended to March 31, 2027, for the relevant registration process for authorised income tax practitioners.
Tax Audit Report deadline
The income tax audit deadline for the fiscal year 2026-2027 is September 30, 2026, and it applies to a certain group of taxpayers. Only chartered accountants can perform an income tax audit, and the CA must complete the audit and upload the tax audit report on the taxpayers' behalf to the ITR e-filing system.
Under Section 44AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, taxpayers carrying on a business or specified profession must get their accounts audited by a Chartered Accountant and furnish a tax audit report.
