New Income-Tax Bill Introduced With Amendments

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced a new Income Tax Bill in Lok Sabha to consolidate and amend the law relating to income tax. The new Bill, the government said, will substantially reduce taxes for the middle class, leaving more disposable income in their hands, giving them the freedom for consumption, investment and savings.

Three days after withdrawing the previous Bill, the legislation named The Income-Tax (No.2) Bill, 2025, has been introduced in the House. A 31-member Select Committee, headed by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, had suggested a few changes to the legislation.

Amid uproar by the Opposition parties, the House had approved the withdrawal of the Bill.

The 4,584-page report of the Parliamentary panel on the new Income-Tax Bill was presented on July 21, the first day of the current Monsoon session of Parliament. The panel has suggested important changes to tighten definitions, remove ambiguities, and align the new law with existing frameworks. The parliamentary panel had made a total of 566 suggestions/recommendations in its report.

The revised draft incorporates 285 recommendations from the Parliamentary Select Committee. It seeks to simplify tax processes, address earlier shortcomings, and potentially reshape the country’s income tax framework.

Panel chief Panda said the new legislation will simplify India’s decades-old tax structure, reduce legal confusion, and help individual taxpayers and MSMEs avoid unnecessary litigation.

Panda noted that the new bill simplifies the law by nearly 50 per cent, making it far easier for ordinary taxpayers to read and understand. The committee had flagged multiple drafting errors and suggested amendments to reduce ambiguity.

The current Income Tax Act, enacted in 1961, has undergone more than 4,000 amendments and now contains over five lakh words, making it highly complex. In the revised bill, slabs and rates have been adjusted across the board to benefit all taxpayers.