If you have ever filled in a tax-saving declaration, section 80C is the number you know. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025 that number is section 123, and the list of qualifying investments has moved out of the section and into Schedule XV.
Quick answer: the mapping
| Income-tax Act, 1961 | Subject | Income-tax Act, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 80C | Life insurance premia, PF, ELSS, PPF, tuition fees, principal on housing loan | 123 |
| 80CCC | Pension fund contributions | 123 |
| 80CCE | The overall ₹1,50,000 ceiling | 123 |
| 80CCD | NPS — employee and employer contribution | 124 |
| 80CCH | Agnipath Scheme contribution | 125 |
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 the 1961 provision did
Section 80C of the Income-tax Act, 1961 allowed a deduction for a long list of payments and investments — life insurance premia, provident fund, PPF, ELSS, five-year deposits, tuition fees, principal repayment on a housing loan and more. Section 80CCC covered pension fund contributions and section 80CCE imposed the combined ceiling of ₹1,50,000 across 80C, 80CCC and 80CCD(1).
Where it sits in the Income-tax Act, 2025
Section 123 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 is headed “Deduction for life insurance premia, deferred annuity, contributions to provident fund, subscription to certain equity shares or debentures, etc.” It carries forward sections 80C, 80CCC and 80CCE together, and it is read with Schedule XV, which sets out the sums that qualify for the deduction. The NPS deduction that was section 80CCD is a separate provision, section 124, also read with Schedule XV.
What actually changed
- Three sections became one. 80C, 80CCC and the 80CCE ceiling are all inside section 123, so the ceiling is no longer in a separate provision you have to remember to read.
- The qualifying list moved to a Schedule. To check whether a payment qualifies, you now read Schedule XV rather than a long clause-by-clause section.
- NPS is clearly separate. Section 124 deals with the employer and employee contribution to the pension scheme, which keeps the additional NPS deduction distinct from the main ₹1.5 lakh basket.
- Chapter VI-A is now Chapter VIII. The gateway conditions that were sections 80A, 80AB, 80AC and 80B are consolidated in section 122, including the rule that the deduction is available only if the return is filed in time.
What to do about it
- Update investment declaration forms and payroll masters to refer to section 123 for tax year 2026-27 onwards.
- Check Schedule XV before assuming an instrument still qualifies — the list, not the section, is now the source.
- Remember that section 202 (the new regime, old section 115BAC) restricts most of these deductions. The regime choice decides whether section 123 is available at all.
- For any year up to 2025-26, keep citing section 80C. Section 536 preserves the old Act for those years.
The sections around it in the new Act
Renumbering is easier to absorb in context. The table below lists the neighbouring provisions of the Income-tax Act, 2025 with the 1961 sections each of them carries forward, so you can see where this provision sits and what moved with it.
| New section (2025) | Provision | Corresponding 1961 section(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 122 | Deductions to be made in computing total income | 80A, 80AB, 80AC, 80B |
| 123 | Deduction for life insurance premia, deferred annuity, contributions to provident fund, etc (Read with Schedule XV) | 80C, 80CCC, 80CCE |
| 124 | Deduction in respect of employer and assessee contribution to pension scheme of Central Government (Read with Schedule XV) | 80CCD |
| 125 | Deduction in respect of contribution to Agnipath Scheme | 80CCH |
| 126 | Deduction in respect of health insurance premia | 80D |
| 127 | Deduction in respect of maintenance including medical treatment of a dependant who is a person with disability | 80DD |
| 128 | Deduction in respect of medical treatment, etc | 80DDB |
How to read a section mapping
- A corresponding section is not always an identical section. Where several 1961 sections map to one new section, conditions that used to sit apart are now read together.
- Where one 1961 section maps to several new sections, the old provision was split, and each new section carries only part of what you used to cite.
- Some new sections have no 1961 equivalent at all — the registered non-profit code in sections 332 to 355 is the largest example.
- Always cite by year. The Act that applies is decided by the tax year in question, not by the date you are writing on.
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.