Chapter XV of the Income-tax Act, 2025 runs from section 262 to section 267 and covers return of income. Its 6 sections replace 9 sections of the Income-tax Act, 1961. This guide gives the complete section-by-section mapping between the two Acts.
What Chapter XV covers
Chapter XV is short and heavily used: PAN, the return of income, verification, self-assessment and the updated return.
Chapter XV contains 6 sections (sections 262 to 267). Between them they carry forward the substance of 9 sections of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
The Income-tax Act, 2025 received Presidential assent on 21 August 2025 and takes effect from 1 April 2026. The Income-tax Act, 1961 continues to govern every tax year up to 31 March 2026, and all assessments, appeals, penalties and prosecutions relating to those years are completed under the old Act by virtue of the repeal and savings provision in section 536. The mapping on this page is drawn from the section-wise concordance published with the Act, including the corrigenda notified in the Gazette on 3 September 2025.
What changed in Chapter XV
- Section 263 is the return of income — the new section 139. It absorbs section 139, section 139D and section 194P (the exemption from filing for certain senior citizens).
- Section 262 carries PAN, merging sections 139A and 139AA, so PAN allotment and Aadhaar linking sit in one provision.
- Section 266 is self-assessment (old section 140A) and section 267 is the tax on an updated return (old section 140B).
- Section 265 carries section 140, the verification rules that decide who may sign a return.
Chapter XV: complete section mapping (2025 → 1961)
Every section of Chapter XV is listed below with the section or sections of the Income-tax Act, 1961 that it corresponds to. Where a section is marked as read with a Schedule, the operative detail sits in that Schedule rather than in the section itself.
| New section (2025) | Provision | Corresponding 1961 section(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 262 | Permanent Account Number | 139A, 139AA |
| 263 | Return of income | 139, 139D, 194P |
| 264 | Scheme for submission of returns through tax return preparers | 139B |
| 265 | Return by whom to be verified | 140 |
| 266 | Self-assessment | 140A |
| 267 | Tax on updated return | 140B |
How to use this mapping
- Working on a year up to 2025-26? Use the 1961 section in the right-hand column. The old Act governs those years under section 536.
- Working on tax year 2026-27 onwards? Use the new section number in the left-hand column, and read the section text rather than assuming the old provision was copied verbatim.
- Drafting a reply or an appeal? Cite the section that applies to the year in dispute, not the section in force when you are writing.
- Updating templates and software? Sections that merged — shown where one new section maps to several old ones — need the most attention, because a single new provision now carries what were separate conditions.
This page is a structural mapping guide, not tax advice. A corresponding section is not always an identical section — several provisions were merged, split or re-worded when they were carried over. Always read the actual text of the new section before relying on it, and check for later amendments, rules and CBDT notifications.