The world’s changing, and it’s changing fast.
In just the last five years, we’ve seen a pandemic give rise to an entire lockdown economy, an IT and startup boom, a surge in stock market participation, and content creation evolve into a full-fledged industry.
And now with AI tools becoming widely accessible, starting a business, building products, and monetising your creativity has never been easier.
Truth be told, none of us really know what the world will look like even six months from now.
And in such a rapidly shifting economy, it’s hard for governments and systems to keep up.
But in a welcome move, the Income Tax Department has updated ITR-3 form for AY 2025-26, introducing five new business/profession codes, formally recognising modern professions like social media influencers, stock marker traders and commission agents.
Let’s break down what’s changed, who it impacts, and what you need to do.
The update: 5 new business/profession codes in ITR-3 utility
To better capture income from digital and new-age professions, the Income Tax Department has introduced 5 new business/profession codes in the ITR-3 utilities for AY 2025–26.
| Code | Nature of business/profession | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 16021 | Social Media Influencers | Earning from brand deals, promotions, etc. |
| 21009 | Speculative trading | Intraday trading or trades settled same day |
| 21010 | Futures and Options (F&O) trading | Trading in derivatives on stock exchanges |
| 21011 | Buying and selling shares | Delivery-based equity trading |
| 09029 | Commission agents (Kachcha Arahitya) | Agents working under commission, no ownership |
Why add new codes?
Let’s take social media influencers as an example.
A large number of them now earn lakhs or even crores annually, through brand deals, affiliate marketing, digital product sales, and more. But many either weren’t filing returns, or were selecting generic or incorrect profession codes.
The same applies to the growing pool of intraday and F&O traders who were reporting income inconsistently, leading to processing delays, compliance mismatches, and in some cases, scrutiny notices.
With these new codes, the tax department aims to:
- help taxpayers report their income more accurately
- reduce ambiguity around profession classification
- improve overall compliance and data transparency
Why does your business code matter?
These codes help the Income Tax Department identify your profession and income sources, which in turn determines:
- the type of ITR form you’re eligible to file
- whether you can opt for presumptive taxation under Section 44AD/44ADA\
- whether you need a tax audit under Section 44AB
- what kind of expenses or losses you can claim
Choosing the wrong code can lead to processing issues, mismatch with AIS/TIS data, or even trigger a notice.
What changes for you?
If you fall into any of these five categories, make sure to select the correct profession code while filing your ITR. Here’s how to select business/profession code in the ITR-3 utility:
- Go to “Nature of Business/Profession” section
- Choose the relevant code from dropdown under “code-sub sector”
- Save and proceed to rest of the ITR
Interestingly, these five codes are currently not available in ITR-4 (meant for presumptive income filers). Which means one of two things:
- either the government is indirectly suggesting these professions can’t opt for presumptive taxation, or
- the ITR-4 utility is yet to be updated, which is the more likely case
We’ll have to wait for more clarity before we can confirm anything.
Overall, I think it’s important that tax systems evolve in a rapidly evolving economy. And this small change by the ITD is a step in the right direction, making tax filing more aligned with how people actually earn today.
Because correctly reporting your income shouldn’t just be good practice, but a compliance necessity.