Despite opposition protests, LS approves the new I-T Bill without debate. - watsupptoday.com
Despite opposition protests, LS approves the new I-T Bill without debate.
Posted 12 Aug 2025 11:13 AM

Image Source: Agencies

Aug 12, 2025: Monday's Lok Sabha vote on the Income Tax (No. 2) Bill, 2025, passed without any debate despite persistent opposition protests regarding the Special Intensive Revision of Bihar's electoral rolls.

Before adjourning for the day, the House also approved the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 by voice vote. After the government withdrew the initial Income Tax Bill, 2025, just a few days earlier in the afternoon, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced both bills. The new draft incorporates almost all of the 566 recommendations made by the 31-member Select Committee chaired by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, along with several stakeholder suggestions to tighten definitions, remove ambiguities, and make the law easier to interpret.

The Income-tax Act of 1961 is repealed by the Bill. Over the course of more than six decades and numerous amendments, the Act had become cumbersome and complicated, increasing taxpayer compliance requirements and making enforcement more difficult. According to the government, the fresh law aims to be “concise, lucid, and easy to read and understand.”

Relief for taxpayers by amending provisions that previously barred refunds if returns were filed late, alignment of the definition of micro and small enterprises with the MSME Act, clarification for non-profits on the definitions of "income" versus "receipts," treatment of anonymous donations, and the elimination of the "deemed application" concept are among the significant changes that were backed by the committee. The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 amends both the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the Finance Act, 2025. It grants tax exemptions to subscribers of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) -- bringing its benefits in line with the New Pension Scheme (NPS) -- and extends certain direct tax benefits to Saudi Arabia’s public investment funds. In income tax search cases, the block assessment scheme is also modified by the Bill. MPs from the opposition yelled slogans and demanded a debate on electoral roll revisions as both bills were pushed through amid the noise. Parliament has been in near-constant turmoil since the start of the monsoon session, with repeated adjournments over the issue.

The Income-tax Act of 1961 would be subject to a timetabled overhaul, as the government had promised in the July 2024 Budget. Anti-doping sports legislation passed: The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the National Sports Governance Bill and National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill. The sports Bill was referred to by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya as "the single biggest reform in Indian sports since Independence."

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