The government is set to table a fresh version of the Income Tax Bill 2025 in Parliament on Monday, following approval by the Union Cabinet on Friday.
The revised bill integrates 285 recommendations from the Lok Sabha’s Select Committee, chaired by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, with the aim of modernising and simplifying India’s tax legislation. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman withdrew the earlier version, introduced on February 13 this year, to avoid confusion and ensure all changes were consolidated into a single updated draft. Disruptions in the House on Friday delayed its introduction until Monday. The new bill seeks to replace the 1961 Income Tax Act, retaining its core policy framework while improving clarity through structural and textual changes. The guiding principles include:
- Simplification of language and provisions for better readability.
- Continuity in tax policies, with no changes to tax rates.
- Ease of compliance by consolidating provisions, adding formulae and tables, and reducing dependency on professionals for interpretation.
