Income Tax Return Filing FY 2024-25: The Income Tax Department has issued ITR form 3, applicable for individuals and HUFs earning income through business or professional activities. The announcement was made via X platform on Thursday night, confirming that ITR-3 for Assessment Year 2025-26 was officially notified on April 30.

What’s new in ITR-3?

A significant change includes the increase in the reporting threshold for assets and liabilities under ‘Schedule AL‘ from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore, providing relief to middle-income taxpayers through reduced disclosure requirements.
The ITR’s Schedule Capital Gains section now requires separate reporting of capital gains based on their occurrence, whether before or after July 23, 2024.
Following the Budget presentation on July 24, 2024, the administration proposed reducing long-term capital gains tax on property to 12.5 per cent without indexation benefits, down from the previous 20 per cent rate with indexation.
Also Read | ITR filing FY 2024-25: New ITR-1 form notified with major changes – here’s what taxpayers should know
The indexation benefit enables taxpayers to calculate property cost prices whilst accounting for inflation.
This revision allows individuals or HUFs who acquired properties before July 23, 2024, to choose between two options: either pay LTCG tax at 12.5 per cent without indexation or continue with the existing system of 20 per cent tax with indexation benefits.
AKM Global’s Partner-Tax, Sandeep Sehgal highlighted that the CBDT has implemented significant modifications to ITR Form 3 for Assessment Year 2025-26, simplifying the compliance process for individuals and Hindu Undivided Families earning income from business or professional activities.
“Dropdowns for deductions like Section 80C and section-wise TDS reporting have also been introduced, enhancing transparency, accuracy, and ease of filing. Overall, these changes reflect the CBDT’s ongoing efforts to promote ease of compliance, improve data accuracy, and align reporting with emerging policy developments,” Sehgal added.
On April 29, the authorities announced ITR forms 1 and 4 for assessment year 2025-26, simplifying the filing process for individuals with long-term capital gains up to Rs 1.25 lakh from listed equities.
The administration has incorporated alterations regarding deductions under sections 80C, 80GG and others, whilst introducing a dropdown menu in the utility for tax filers to choose from.
Additionally, taxpayers must now provide detailed section-wise information concerning their TDS deductions in the ITR.

File picture of Adani Enterprises Director Pranav Adani
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has alleged Pranav Adani, director of several Adani group companies and the nephew of founder Gautam Adani, shared price-sensitive information and breached regulations aimed at preventing insider trading, according a document reviewed by Reuters.

Pranav Adani, the nephew of Gautam Adani, was sent a notice by the markets regulator last year, which alleged he shared information about Adani Green’s 2021 acquisition of SoftBank-backed SB Energy Holdings with his brother-in-law before the deal was announced, according to a source and the document.

The matter has not been previously reported.

Pranav to settle, denies violation of securities law

In an e-mailed response sent to Reuters, Pranav Adani said he was seeking to settle the charges “to put an end to the matter, without admission or denial of the allegations” and that “he has not violated any securities law”.

Settlement terms were being discussed, said the source with direct knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named as the matter is confidential.

Latest challenge for Adani group

The scrutiny is the latest challenge for the Adani group. U.S. authorities last year indicted Gautam Adani and two Adani Green executives for allegedly paying bribes to secure Indian power supply contracts and misleading U.S. investors. The group has denied the charges and called them “baseless”.

Pranav Adani “communicated UPSI (unpublished price sensitive information) pertaining to the SB Energy acquisition” to his brother-in-law Kunal Shah and violated norms related to insider trading rules in 2021, said the SEBI document, which showed call records and trading patterns were reviewed in the investigation.

Kunal Shah and Nrupal Shah, his brother, then traded in shares of Adani Green and made “ill-gotten gains” of 9 million rupees ($108,000), the document added.

The Shah brothers said in a statement sent by their law firm that the trades were not executed with the “knowledge of any unpublished price sensitive information nor with any mala fide intent.”

“The information in question was already generally available in the public domain,” the statement said.

SEBI did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Largest acquisition in sector

Adani Green’s acquisition of SB energy on May 17, 2021 at an enterprise value of $3.5 billion is the largest acquisition in the renewable energy sector in India so far.

Pranav Adani became aware of the impending acquisition two-three days prior to May 16, 2021, when the deal was finalised, SEBI said.

SEBI had proposed that Kunal and Nrupal Shah also settle, but the brothers chose to contest the allegations as they found the terms too onerous, the source added.

Pranav Adani’s settlement plea would be taken up after SEBI’s ongoing review of its settlement process is over.

Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The rupee appreciated 77 paise to 83.77 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Friday, supported by sustained foreign fund inflows and stronger domestic data.

Forex traders said GST collections for April were robust at ₹2.37 lakh crore, an all-time high, reflecting the health of domestic demand. Moreover, a positive trend in domestic equities driven by foreign fund inflows further boosted sentiments.

However, caution lingers, as they noted any escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan could swiftly reverse gains and pressurise the rupee, much like past geopolitical episodes.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.98 against the greenback, then gained ground and touched 83.77, registering a gain of 77 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee surged 42 paise to 84.54 against the U.S. dollar.

The forex market was closed on Thursday on account of Maharashtra Day.

“The rupee’s 2% rise in March marked its best performance since November 2018, aided by a weaker U.S. dollar outlook. However, caution persists amid ongoing geopolitical risks — particularly tensions with Pakistan over Kashmir — which could spark rupee volatility.

“At the same time, the Dollar Index (DXY) has found support at 98 and may rebound toward 102 on the back of renewed trade optimism. A continued dollar rally could weigh on the rupee, limiting its recent gains and reintroducing near-term instability,” CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose 12.6% Y-o-Y to an all-time high of about ₹2.37 lakh crore in April, which the government said shows the resilience of the Indian economy and the effectiveness of cooperative federalism.

The gross GST mop-up was ₹2.10 lakh crore in April 2024 — the second-highest collection ever since GST was rolled out on July 1, 2017. The net mop-up was ₹1.92 lakh crore.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.27% at 99.97.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.55% to $62.45 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 722.82 points or 0.90% to 80,965.06, while the Nifty rose 203.70 points or 0.84% to 24,537.90.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹50.57 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.