Informist, Thursday, Jul. 24, 2025

--Sitharaman: Dept working on suggestions received on new Income Tax Bill

--Sitharaman:Hope for discussion, debate in Parliament on new Income Tax Bill

--CBDT head: Work underway for final rules under new Income Tax Bill

--CONTEXT: CBDT Chairman Agrawal speaking at Income Tax Day event

NEW DELHI – The Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman Ravi Agrawal Thursday said work was currently under way to give shape to new rules, forms, and procedures under the new Income Tax Bill, which will be a critical step as they will define how the law will function. "I am confident, just like the Bill, these will reflect shared commitment (of the department) to clarity, simplicity and taxpayer convenience," Agrawal said at the 166th Income Tax Day event.

Announced in the full Budget for 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), the new Income Tax Bill aims to simplify the Income Tax Act, 1961, make it more lucid and easier for taxpayers to calculate taxes and file returns. The Parliamentary committee set up to examine the Income Tax Bill, 2025 tabled its report in the Lok Sabha on Monday. It recommended a number of tweaks to the new bill that was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in February.

Sitharaman, who was also present at the event, said that the direct tax department was working on the comments received by the Parliamentary committee, along with integrating the suggestions received during various stakeholder consultations. She said that the department put in "enormous efforts" in reducing the number of words in the original Income Tax Act, 1961, simplify the language, ensuring that it was not subject to too many implications and that she hopes the Parliament takes it up for debates and discussions in the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament.

"We will welcome the suggestions by honourable members and I expect with enough number of engagements, discussion and debate in the House, the Bill passses through the Parliament's scrutiny and gets declared to be in the 166th year of Income Tax Day, first ever comprehensive review pf the Income Tax Act," the finance minister said.

In its report, the Parliamentary committee has suggested that the Bill be amended to allow carry forward and set-off of losses where the shareholding pattern, though altered temporarily, is restored in subsequent years and the 51% continuity requirement is met thereafter. "This would preserve the legislative intent of preventing misuse while ensuring fair treatment for companies whose shareholders remain ultimately liable to tax," the report said. The report has a host of other recommendations.

The committee led by Bharatiya Janata Party's Baijayant Panda comprises 31 members, including Bhartruhari Mahtab and Naveen Jindal from the BJP; the Trinamool Congress' Mahua Moitra, the Revolutionary Socialist Party's N.K. Premachandran, and the Nationalist Congress Party's (SCP) Supriya Sule, among others. The proposed Income Tax Bill, 2025 has 536 sections and 23 chapters spread across 622 pages, 201 pages fewer than the older Act. The document has been shortened primarily by removing explanations. End

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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