In India the financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. Financial year 2026-27 began on 1 April 2026 and ends on 31 March 2027. GST, company accounts and income tax all follow it.
Tax year
The Income-tax Act, 2025, in force from 1 April 2026, replaced the old pair of "previous year" and "assessment year" with a single "tax year", the same twelve months. Tax year 2026-27 is 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. Returns for earlier years still use the old terms.
What the year decides
- Invoice numbering
- GST invoice numbers must be unique within a financial year, which is why series often carry the year, as in INV/26-27/0031.
- GST thresholds
- registration, e-invoicing, composition and QRMP limits are tested on turnover in a financial year.
- Annual returns and deadlines
- credit notes and missed input tax credit for a year must be dealt with by 30 November after it ends (as of October 2026).
- LUT
- filed again for each year.
- MSME class
- reviewed each year.
Year-end tasks
The weeks around 31 March are busy: stock count, ledger confirmations, provisions, new invoice series, LUT renewal and the first GST return of the new year.