If you are a medical professional and your gross receipts exceed ₹1.5 lakh per year in any of the preceding three assessment years, you should maintain a case register referred as ‘Form 25’ under the detailing the fee receipts. Though there is no need to furnish this information at the time of filing IT returns, ‘Form 25’ is mandatory under the IT Act. Here is a primer on the earning record medical professionals need to keep, which is aimed at curbing under-reporting of professional income.
What is Form 25? Who is required to maintain it?
It is a prescribed daily case register required to be maintained by practitioners of any system of medicine under Rule 46(6) of the Rules, 2026. Practitioners of any system of medicine, including physicians, surgeons, dentists, pathologists, radiologists, hakims and other medical practitioners, are required to maintain Form No. 25, subject to the monetary limits prescribed.
Is maintenance compulsory?
Yes. Maintenance of Form 25 is mandatory where the total gross receipts exceed ₹1.5 lakh per year in any one of the three tax years immediately preceding the tax year or the total gross receipts of a newly set-up medical practice is likely to exceed the said limit in the tax year.
What particulars are required to be recorded in Form 25?
It is maintained in a tabular register and includes
Date, Serial Number/Case Number
Name of the Patient
Nature of professional services rendered
Fee received
Date of receipt of fee
Is it required to be furnished to the Income Tax department?
No. Form 25 is not required to be furnished to the Income Tax department. It is to be maintained and produced before the ‘Assessing Officer’ when called for. Form 25 is a daily register and must be updated on a real-time or day-to-day basis.
For how long should Form 25 be preserved? Can it be maintained in the digital form?
It should be maintained for a period of seven tax years from the end of the relevant tax year. In case of reassessment, it must be preserved till completion of such proceedings. Form No. 25 can be maintained in electronic mode, provided the records remain accessible in India at all times with backups on servers physically located in India, updated daily.
“Form 25 serves as a primary record of professional receipts of medical practitioners. It supports the income declared, enables verification by the ‘Assessing Officer’, and ensures compliance with Rule 46 relating to maintenance of books of account,” according to the .