Jaipur: The Income Tax Department’s Rajasthan region Friday launched ‘PRARAMBH 2026’, a nationwide awareness campaign on the New Income-tax Act, 2025, and the Income-tax Rules, 2026, with a mega outreach programme at Aayakar Hall, NCRB, Jaipur, under the theme ‘Bridging Borders and Building Trust’.Addressing reporters ahead of the event, principal chief commissioner of Income Tax, Rajasthan, Sumeet Kumar, said Rajasthan recorded income tax collections of nearly Rs 37,000 crore in 2025-26, marking a growth of around 7% over the previous financial year.“Despite being one of the country’s largest states geographically, Rajasthan contributes only around 1.5% to the country’s overall income tax collection due to comparatively lower industrial activity,” he said.Kumar said Mumbai alone accounts for nearly one-third of the country’s total tax collection and remains the top city in income tax revenue. He added that the new Income-tax Act, which replaced the 65-year-old law from April this year, was designed to be simpler, more direct and taxpayer-friendly.The awareness programme focused on educating taxpayers and stakeholders about provisions of the New Income-tax Act, 2025, and the Income-tax Rules, 2026. Chartered accountants, lawyers and taxpayers were briefed on the new provisions and compliance framework.Around 150-200 participants, including representatives from industries, multinational companies, ICAI/CIRC members, tax professionals, charitable trusts, taxpayers and departmental officials, attended the programme. The dept said similar outreach programmes under the ‘PRARAMBH 2026’ campaign will soon be organised in other cities across Rajasthan.During the event, the dept launched several taxpayer facilitation initiatives, including ‘Kar Setu’ FAQs, an AI-powered chatbot ‘Kar Sathi’, ‘Samvaad’ outreach sessions, comic books, multilingual brochures, and a locally developed taxpayer guidance booklet. The booklet features comparative tables of old and new forms, sections, and rules, along with QR codes linking taxpayers to digital utilities and assistance platforms.
