New Income Tax Bill highlights: Key details out; check for details

On the weakening of rupee against US dollar, the minister said various global and domestic factors are influencing the value of rupee against the US dollar. The Indian rupee has depreciated 3.3 per cent against the US dollar between October 2024 and January 2025, but the decline has been lower than that in some of its Asian peers. South Korean Won and Indonesian Rupiah depreciated by 8.1 per cent and 6.9 per cent, respectively in this period.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said farmer agitations across the country are the biggest indicator of the government’s failure and said its policies have forced several educated youths to work as delivery agents. Participating in the debate on the Union Budget in Lok Sabha, he said the Budget has no roadmap for a “vikisit Bharat”. Dubbing demonetisation and GST as the biggest impediments to economic growth, the Kannauj MP said frequent changes in the GST formula by the government gives little chance to small traders to adapt.

Various global, domestic factors influenced value of rupee against US dollar: FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Loksabha

Govt using 99 pc borrowings for capital expenditure, which is 4.3 pc of GDP: Sitharaman.

Budget balances national development necessities with fiscal priorities: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman begins her address at Lok Sabha. She is speaking on Union Budget 2025.

Giving a clarification on rise in GST rates, FM Sitharaman said that the rates have come down. She said that when GST was introduced, the customer could have been levied with 15.8% tax but the rate came down to 11.3%

Replying to a question by TMC MP Mohd Nadimul Haque regarding the Finance Ministry’s plans for GST Council reforms, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the FMs from state governments are part of the GST Council, and are working together to make decisions. She acknowledged that all members of the GST Council have carefully examined each item to identify where rate reductions can be made.

If the tax laws don’t have clarity, it often leads to unnecessary litigation work. Bhalla said that the department should address concerns raised by stakeholders to build trust and transparency. At the same time a more business-like approach for interpretation should be adopted by the administration, he said.

Experts believe that if the rules are simplified in the new bill than the compliance process will also become easier. Sandeep Bhalla, Partner at Dhruva Advisors, said that the focus should be on cutting down paperwork, including and enhancing digital platforms, and simplifying the process of filing returns. Additionally, the number of forms and returns taxpayers need to submit should be significantly reduced. And instead of multiple forms, various tax details could be included in a single form for submission to the tax authorities.”

A simplified tax code is likely to give more clarity to the taxpayers on their legal duties and exemptions. Businessmen will be able to plan their finances better if the government ensures that there are minimal changes in tax provisions.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to reply on Union Budget 2025 today. SO she will be attending the session at the Parliament. There are chances she might table the new Income Tax Bill as well. If it isn’t tabled today, she is expected to table it within this week.

In the ongoing Parliament Budget session, Congress MPs have walked out from Rajya Sabha over the issue of Constitution’s copies not bearing 22 illustrations that were printed in the original copy.

Sandeep Bhalla, Partner at Dhruva Advisors says that although the bill is expected to make the existing laws simple, what is more important is to make sure to understand that simplification is not a one-time effort. Bhalla urged to look at it as a “continuous process that evolves with changes in the economy, technology, and global practices on one hand and the interpretation issues arising thereform periodically. ”

Tax experts feel the new Income Tax Bill‘s proposed aim and direction is ambitious, but simultaneously it is a humungous exercise.

Over the last 6 decades, multiple additions, deletions and amendments made to the I-T Act have made it challenging. Riaz Thingna, Partner – Tax, Grant Thornton Bharat details: How complicated language and long sentences lead to ambiguity in interpretation. Cross-referencing sections make it difficult to refer to and read. Multiple provisos and explanations have increased the scope of different interpretations. The redundant sections are still present in the statute.

“With all these issues, the need for a comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act cannot be undermined, and the finance minister announced in the Union Budget 2024, that the exercise was being undertaken and undertook a very lofty target of six months for implementation.”

Inputs were sought from various stakeholders and by October 2024 more than 6,500 inputs had been received.

“With that background, one expected that the Bill would not be likely to be rolled out before the end of calendar year 2025. Hence, when the Finance Minister announced, while presenting the Union Budget 2025, that the Bill would be introduced in one week, the announcement was received with surprise, albeit pleasant.”

The Lok Sabha proceedings went on till 9 pm on Monday while the proceedings of Rajya Sabha went on till 8 pm. Both the Houses are to stretch for additional two hours today as well. The aim is to complete the debate around Budget 2025 .

The million dollar question that everyone has around the new Income Tax Bill is that if it’s going to bring any relief to the taxpayer. So as per FM Sitharaman, the new bill is going to be definitely easier to understand and comprehend for the regular taxpayer. The language is going to be simple and clear and even the length of the original version has been cut short to

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday said the Union Budget 2025-26 was a ‘politically-driven budget’ with Delhi elections in mind as it ignored the poor and bottom half of the population.

Initiating discussion on Union Budget 2025-26 in Rajya Sabha, Chidambaram also accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of claiming to improve fiscal deficit by cutting Centre’s capital expenditure and grants-in-aid to states and terming it as bad economics.

The victory of the BJP in the Delhi Assembly polls was hailed by ruling party members with chanting of “Mod, Modi” slogans in both houses of Parliament on Monday. Soon after the Lok Sabha met for the day, members of the BJP got up and called out “Mod, Modi” slogans, with the Congress MPs objecting to the same. The sloganeering by the treasury benches continued for a brief while before Speaker Om Birla called for the Question Hour. Congress member Gaurav Gogoi and Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee were also seen raising some issues.

When proceedings of the Upper House started at 11 am, euphoric BJP members immediately started sloganeering in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Here’s what former finance minister and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram said in the Upper House on Monday.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will reply on Budget 2025 in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday clarified in the Lok Sabha that India’s rising gold reserves, including those held by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is not intended to replace any international currency. She responded to Congress MP Manish Tiwari’s concerns about whether the global shift towards gold signaled a move away from the US dollar as a dominant settlement mechanism. The Finance Minister said, “Gold is also kept in the Reserve Bank and gold is also being bought by the Reserve Bank. But beyond that, as regards an international currency or potential currency, there is not much for me to comment at this stage”.

After the new Income Tax Bill is tabled in Rajya Sabha, it will then be tabled in the Lok Sabha. Post that, the bill will be sent to a committee for review. Once they review, it is going to go back to the Cabinet for further discussion and consideration.

The Parliament has resumed the Budget proceedings for the day. Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha have resumed. Reports suggest that the new income tax bill will be tabled in the Parliament today or later this week.

Although the new Income Tax Bill has been pitched as simpler and easy to understand bill, there are still a lot of questions and debate around it that are answered. To get all your questions answered, we have compiled a list of FAQs that you need to know.

Read Here: New Income Tax Bill likely to be introduced this week – All your FAQs answered

According to FM Sitharaman’s last announcement, the new I-T Bill will most likely be introduced in the Parliament this week. Although there has been no official announcement regarding the date and time, there are chances that the FM will table in Bill in the Lok Sabha today.

Sandeep Chaufla, Partner at PwC India has said that the ongoing review of the Income-tax Act, 1961, aims to modernize and simplify India’s tax system to support broader economic goals. He said that the new Bill focuses on improving the ease of doing business, reducing confusion in tax laws, and making tax administration and compliance more efficient. He added that this will help raise India’s tax-GDP ratio to global standards and promote sustainable economic growth. The review will also create a more transparent and efficient tax system, attracting investments and aligning with the Government’s vision for a developed India (Viksit Bharat).

The Lok Sabha has been adjourned until 2:00 pm amid the ruckus created by the Opposition MPs.

Rajya Sabha will conduct the discussions over Union Budget 2025 post 2:00 pm now. The House will sit for extra two hours today and on Tuesday, to complete the debate over the Budget.