Do my pending notices, assessments and appeals continue under the 1961 Act?

The Income-tax Act, 1961 was repealed from 1 April 2026 by section 536 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The same section says what continues under the old Act.

What continues under the 1961 Act

Section 536 keeps the 1961 Act, and its procedure, for:

• Proceedings pending on 1 April 2026, before any income-tax authority, the Tribunal or a court, including applications, appeals, references and revisions.
• New proceedings started after 1 April 2026 for years before that date, including notices, assessments, reassessments, recomputations, rectifications, penalties, revisions and appeals. So a notice under section 148 (reassessment) for AY 2023-24, issued today, is a 1961 Act notice.
• Penalties for those years, which can be started and imposed under the 1961 Act.

What changes for those old cases

• Interest rates. For old-year refunds and defaults, interest for the period from 1 April 2026 is charged at the rates in the 2025 Act's corresponding sections.
• Recovery. An old demand can be recovered under the 2025 Act, and a refund under the 2025 Act can be set off against an old demand.
• Circulars and instructions issued under the 1961 Act continue, so far as they are consistent with the new Act. This includes, for example, the guidelines on stay of demand.
• Options already exercised, such as a choice of tax regime, carry over to the corresponding provision of the new Act.

No second chance for expired time limits

If a time limit for an application, appeal or revision expired before 1 April 2026, the new Act does not revive it, even where it allows a longer period.

What this means in practice

• Expect 1961 Act section numbers on notices and orders for FY 2025-26 and earlier years for some years to come.
• Reply and appeal under the 1961 Act procedure, using the forms the portal offers for that year.
• For years from tax year 2026-27, the 2025 Act applies. See which Act applies.