CA K Sanjay BhargavChartered Accountant
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Section 80C is now Section 123: the full deduction mapping

CA K Sanjay Bhargav, Chartered Accountant, Bengaluru

Membership No. 250054 · DISA (ICAI)

Published

Short answer: Section 80C is now Section 123. The whole of Chapter VI-A moves to sections 122–154 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. Limits and eligibility are unchanged. The catch is that under the default regime (Section 202), most of these deductions are not available to you at all — so knowing the new number matters less than knowing which regime you are in.

The headline mapping

Deduction1961 Act2025 ActLimit
LIC / PF / ELSS / tuition / housing principals.80Cs.123₹1,50,000
NPSs.80CCDs.124As before
Health insurances.80Ds.126As before
Donationss.80Gs.133As before
Savings & deposit interestss.80TTA + 80TTBs.153 (merged)As before
General frameworkss.80A/80AB/80AC/80Bs.122

The complete Chapter VI-A concordance

1961 Act2025 ActWhat it covers
80A / 80AB / 80AC / 80B122General framework and conditions
80C / 80CCC / 80CCE123Life insurance, PF, ELSS, tuition, housing principal
80CCD124National Pension System
80CCH125Agniveer Corpus Fund
80D126Health insurance premium
80DD / 80DDB127 / 128Disabled dependant / specified diseases
80E129Education loan interest
80EE / 80EEA130 / 131Housing loan interest / affordable housing
80EEB132Electric vehicle loan interest
80G133Donations
80GG134Rent paid (no HRA)
80GGA / 80GGB / 80GGC135 / 136 / 137Research donations / political contributions
80-IA / 80-IAB / 80-IAC138 / 139 / 140Infrastructure / SEZ developer / start-ups
80-IB / 80-IBA / 80-IE141 / 142 / 143Industrial undertakings / housing projects / North-East
10AA144SEZ units — moved in from the exemptions chapter
80JJA / 80JJAA145 / 146Bio-waste / additional employee cost
80LA147IFSC / offshore banking units
80M148Inter-corporate dividends
80P149–150Co-operative societies
80QQB / 80RRB151 / 152Author royalty / patent royalty
80TTA + 80TTB153Savings and deposit interest — consolidated
80U154Person with disability

Two entries are worth pausing on, because a mechanical one-to-one lookup misses both:

  • 80TTA and 80TTB have merged into a single Section 153. Searching for a separate senior-citizen provision will not turn one up.
  • Section 10AA has moved chapters. It was an exemption under the 1961 Act and is now a deduction at Section 144. If you are scanning the old Chapter VI-A range for it, you will not find it.

⚠️ The part most mapping tables leave out

Knowing that 80C is now 123 is close to useless on its own, because under the default regime most of these sections are not available to you.

The regime under Section 202 (the old Section 115BAC) is the default. It offers lower slab rates in exchange for giving up almost all the deductions in the table above.

Section 202(2)(a)(xii) states the exception precisely. Under the default regime, total income is computed without any deduction under Chapter VIII — other than Section 124(1) and 124(2) (pension scheme contributions), Section 125(2) (Agnipath Scheme) and Section 146 (additional employee cost). Those three are the entire surviving list. Section 123, Section 126, Section 133, Section 134 and the rest do not apply.

Outside Chapter VIII, the ₹75,000 standard deduction from salary survives — Section 19(1) of the Table at Sl. No. 2 sets it at ₹75,000 "where income-tax is computed under section 202(1)", against ₹50,000 in any other case.

What you do lose from the salary head is professional tax. Section 19(1) Sl. No. 1 allows the employment tax levied under Article 276(2) of the Constitution, and Section 202(2)(a)(iv) expressly excludes it under the default regime.

So the real question is never "what is 80C called now". It is which regime leaves you paying less — and that is an arithmetic question about your own numbers, not a lookup. We work through it in old vs new tax regime under the Income-tax Act 2025.

Which year uses which numbering

This is the error we see most often, and it runs in both directions.

Income ofGoverned byCite
FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27) and earlierIncome-tax Act, 1961s.80C
Tax year 2026-27 onwardsIncome-tax Act, 2025s.123

Filing your FY 2025-26 return after 1 April 2026 does not move it to the new Act. The year the income was earned decides, not the date you file. Pre-2026 proceedings lawfully continue under the old Act and its numbering — see does the Income Tax Act 2025 change your FY 2025-26 return?.

Where to go next

For the sections outside Chapter VI-A — capital gains, TDS, assessment, appeals — the full old-to-new section mapping is the quick reference. For what changed in substance rather than numbering, see Income Tax Act 2025 vs 1961.

This is a working reference, not the statute. For anything you are filing or relying on, confirm the section text against the Act or the department's official 1961-vs-2025 comparison utility.

Frequently asked questions

Is Section 80C now Section 123?

Yes. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, the deduction for life insurance premium, provident fund, ELSS, tuition fees, principal repayment of a housing loan and the rest of the old Section 80C basket sits at Section 123. The ₹1,50,000 aggregate limit is unchanged, and so is what qualifies. Only the number moved.

Does the renumbering reduce my deductions?

No. The 2025 Act is a re-codification, not a policy change — the Finance Act 2026 made no change to slabs or rates either. Every Chapter VI-A deduction that existed under the 1961 Act has a home in the 2025 Act at sections 122 to 154. What actually limits your deductions is the regime you are taxed under, not the renumbering.

Which deductions can I claim under the default new regime?

Very few. The default regime under Section 202 is a lower-rate, low-deduction regime. The standard deduction of ₹75,000 from salary survives, and the employer's NPS contribution continues to be allowed. The familiar personal deductions — Section 123 (ex-80C), Section 126 (ex-80D), Section 134 (ex-80GG) and most of the rest — are not available under it. This is why the mapping table alone can mislead: the section exists, but it may not be open to you.

Which year do I use the new numbers for?

Income of tax year 2026-27 onwards is governed by the 2025 Act and its numbering. Your return for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), even though filed after 1 April 2026, is still governed by the 1961 Act and its old section numbers. Quoting Section 123 on an AY 2026-27 return would be wrong.

What happened to 80TTA and 80TTB?

They have been consolidated into a single Section 153 covering deduction for interest on savings and deposit accounts. This is one of the few places in the mapping where two old sections collapse into one new one, so a straight one-to-one lookup will not find it.

Where did the SEZ deduction go?

Section 10AA, which was an exemption in the 1961 Act, has moved into the deductions chapter as Section 144 of the 2025 Act. It is a structural relocation rather than a renumbering, and it is easy to miss if you are searching only within the old Chapter VI-A range.

Not sure which deductions you can still claim?

Send your salary structure, investments and loan details. Which regime works out cheaper for you, and which deductions actually survive under it, are computed before anything is filed.

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