Ministry of Finance
Notification No. 94/2026 [F. No. 370142/24/2026-TPL] / G.S.R. 646(E) : Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2026 : Amendment of rule 157 of the Income tax Rules, 2026 to align the definition of the specified fund with rule 114AAB of the Income tax Rules, 1962 was published on 21 July 2026. Its subject is Ministry of Finance.
This amends the Income-tax Rules. What it changes is the Rules, not the Act — and a rule can never take away what the section gives.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes makes the Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2026 under section 533 read with section 262 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, substituting clause (c) of sub-rule (5) of rule 157 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026. The substituted clause redefines "specified fund" as a fund established or incorporated in India as a trust, company, limited liability partnership or body corporate holding a certificate of registration as a Category I or Category II Alternative Investment Fund and regulated either under the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 or under the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Fund Management) Regulations, 2022 while located in an International Financial Services Centre; or a fund referred to in Schedule VI [Note 1(g)] to the Act.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(Department of Revenue)
(CENTRAL BOARD OF DIRECT TAXES)
NOTIFICATION
New Delhi, the 21st July, 2026
(INCOME-TAX)
G.S.R. 646(E).— In exercise of the powers conferred by section 533 read with section 262 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (30 of 2025), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Income-tax Rules, 2026, namely: ___
1. (1) These rules may be called the Income-tax (Second Amendment) Rules, 2026.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
2. In the Income-tax Rules, 2026, in rule 157, in sub-rule (5), for clause (c), the following clause shall be substituted, namely: —
'(c) "specified fund" means —
(i) any fund established or incorporated in India in the form of a trust or a company or a limited liability partnership or a body corporate which has been granted a certificate of registration as a Category I or Category II Alternative Investment Fund and is regulated under —
(A) the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 made under the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (15 of 1992); or
(B) the International Financial Services Centres Authority (Fund Management) Regulations, 2022 made under the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 (50 of 2019) and which is located in any International Financial Services Centre; or
(ii) any fund which has been referred to in Schedule VI [Note 1(g)] to the Act;'.
[No. 94/2026/F. No. 370142/24/2026-TPL]
ROHIT SINGH, Uunder Secy.
Note: The Income-tax Rules, 2026 were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, section 3, sub-section (i), vide notification number G.S.R. 198(E), dated the 20th March, 2026 and were last amended vide notification number G.S.R. 241(E), dated the 31st March, 2026.
Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064
and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.
21 July 2026.
In applying rule 157 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 when testing whether a fund qualifies as a specified fund, and in the returns and claims of Alternative Investment Funds and IFSC-based funds.
Rules it names. Rule 157 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The 1962 Rules were replaced by the Income-tax Rules, 2026, which renumbered nearly everything: a rule number quoted here almost never means the same rule today.
← Notification No. 95/2026 [F. No.300196/78/2024-ITA-I] / SO 4047(E) : Notification in the case of Kerala Headload Workers Welfare Board, Kochi · Notification No. 93/2026 [F. No. 300196/65/2025-ITA-I] / SO 3984(E) : Notification of District Legal Service Authority, Jind →
Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.
