In such a situation, before entering the new financial year, it is very important for the common man to understand what is the harm of missing the deadline of 31st March and what is going to change in his financial life from 1st April? Let us try to understand everything in simple language.

Four tasks must be completed before midnight on March 31, 2026

To avoid penalty and financial loss at the close of financial year 2025-26, you must complete the following tasks by March 31:

• Tax Saving and Investment: To get tax exemption under Section 80C and 80D, invest in PPF, ELSS, and life insurance before March 31, otherwise the benefit will not be available in the current financial year.




• Keeping accounts active: It is necessary to deposit minimum mandatory amount to save PPF, NPS and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana from becoming inactive and penalty.




• Updated Returns: The last date for filing updated returns for the financial year 2020-21 (assessment year 2021-22) is March 31.




• For those with foreign income: NRIs must submit ‘Form 67’ by this day to claim foreign tax credit, otherwise they may face double taxation.

What is changing under the Income Tax Act 2025, which came into effect from April 1?

The old Income Tax Act, 1961 has been replaced by the ‘Income Tax Act 2025’. Now, by eliminating the hassle of ‘Assessment Year’ and ‘Previous Year’, it will be called only ‘Tax Year 2026-27’.

• New tax system: Tax liability of those with net annual income up to Rs 12 lakh has been reduced to zero. Along with this, standard deduction of Rs 75,000 will continue for salaried people.




• huge discount in old system: Children’s education allowance has been increased from Rs 100 to Rs 3,000 per month and hostel allowance has been increased from Rs 300 to Rs 9,000. Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad have also been included in Tier-1 (50% relaxation) for HRA.




• Tax on investment: Now, capital gains tax will be levied on sovereign gold bonds purchased from the secondary market at the time of maturity. STT on futures and options trading has been increased, and shareholders will have to pay tax on share buybacks of companies.

Foreign travel becomes cheaper: TCS rate on overseas tour packages has been reduced from the double rate of 5% and 20% to 2% directly.

‘GST 2.0’: What became cheaper, what became expensive?

In the new GST regime, the tax slabs have been reduced to 5%, 18% and 40%.

• relief: Health and life insurance, 33 life-saving medicines, and unpackaged dairy products have been reduced to 0% (tax-free). Small cars, ACs, and TVs have now come down to 18% slab from 28%.




• Costly: Tobacco, luxury vehicles, big SUVs and online gaming will now attract the highest GST of 40%.

Inflation shock: Expenses will increase from kitchen to road

• LPG Cylinder: Due to West Asia (especially Iran-Israel) tension, domestic gas price in Delhi has increased from ₹853 to ₹913. At the same time, commercial cylinder has become costlier by ₹ 115 and has reached ₹ 1,883, due to which eating and drinking outside will become expensive.




• Medicines: NPPA has approved an increase of up to 1.74% in the prices of over 900 essential medicines (like paracetamol, antibiotics) due to rising costs for pharma companies.




• Rise in price of cars: Due to the preparation for the upcoming ‘BS-7’ emission standards and rising costs, companies like Tata Motors, Honda (by Rs 25,000-65,000) and Mercedes have increased the prices of vehicles from April 1.

New rules of banking, pension and insurance

• ATM and Bank Accounts: HDFC Bank will now also count UPI-based cardless withdrawals as five free transactions. ₹23 will be charged for exceeding the limit. Banks will no longer be able to impose arbitrary penalty for not maintaining minimum balance, rather it will be in proportion to the shortfall.




• Credit Card and PAN: Now Aadhaar alone will not be enough for a new PAN card, 10th class certificate or birth certificate will be mandatory. Not only OTP but also biometrics like 2FA (Dynamic Factor) have been made mandatory for all digital payments.




• NPS Withdrawal: On retirement, now up to 80% of the amount can be withdrawn in lump sum instead of 60%. 100% lump sum withdrawal is possible if the corpus is Rs 8 lakh or less.




• Health Insurance: The ‘moratorium period’ for insurance companies has been reduced to five years. After paying the premium for five years, the company will not be able to reject the claim on the grounds of any chronic disease.

What changes in rules related to trains and travel?

Fastag annual pass for traveling on the highway has increased from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,075. At the same time, according to the new rule of Indian Railways, no refund will be given if the confirmed ticket is canceled within eight hours of the train departure (earlier this period was four hours).

What do the changes mean?

These rules, which are coming into effect from April 1, 2026, show that the government is moving towards making the economy completely digital and transparent. On one hand, while the middle class has got the gift of tax-free income up to Rs 12 lakh and affordable health insurance, on the other hand, due to geopolitical instability, the pressure on the household budget is also going to increase due to the cost of gas, medicines and cars. In such a situation, smart and disciplined financial planning is the biggest need of the hour.