Presumptive Taxation (Section 44ADA)
Section 44ADA lets eligible professionals — including many freelancers — declare 50% of their gross receipts as taxable income, without maintaining detailed books of account.
Section 44ADA of the Income Tax Act offers a simplified tax regime for specified professionals (including IT professionals, consultants, designers, and other notified categories) with gross receipts up to a specified limit.
Instead of tracking every business expense individually, eligible freelancers can declare 50% of their gross receipts as taxable profit, and pay income tax on that amount — the other 50% is treated as covering business expenses, whether or not you actually spent that much.
This scheme significantly reduces bookkeeping overhead for solo freelancers, though it may not be beneficial if your actual expenses are consistently below 50% of receipts (in which case regular accounting might result in lower tax) — this is worth discussing with a tax professional based on your specific numbers.