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FM Sitharaman withdraws Income Tax Bill, revised draft to be tabled Aug 11
A revised version of the Bill, incorporating most of the Committee's recommendations, is expected to be introduced in Parliament on August 11, officials said.
The decision to withdraw and reintroduce a single, updated version is meant to avoid confusion from multiple drafts and ensure that the House considers a comprehensive, consensus-based text.
The original bill had been introduced on February 13.
According to PTI, several critical changes have been made in the updated draft:
Anonymous donations to purely religious non-profit organisations (NPOs) will continue to enjoy tax exemption.
Religious-cum-charitable trusts (such as those operating schools or hospitals) will be taxed on such donations.
Taxpayers may be allowed to claim TDS refunds even after the I-T return filing due date, without facing a penalty.
Once passed, the revised bill will replace the existing Income Tax Act of 1961 and is expected to modernise India's tax code to suit digital-era requirements.
The 31-member Select Committee, chaired by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, was set up soon after the Bill's initial introduction to facilitate stakeholder consultations and expert feedback.
Most of the panel's suggestions have been accepted, including those aimed at improving transparency and taxpayer convenience.
The bill, which will be reintroduced to Parliament on Monday, is expected to focus on simplification, enhanced digital integration, and a more contemporary framework for compliance.
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Hindustan Times
17 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
SC relief for ELV owners, to examine its 2018 order
The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed no coercive action to be taken against those driving 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles in Delhi, effectively staying the implementation of its own October 2018 order which signed off on a 2014 order of the National Green Tribunal seeking to keep polluting vehicles off the roads in an attempt to combat the Capital's noxious air. Soon after coming to power in Delhi, the BJP government of the UT decided to deny fuel supply to end-of-life vehicles, which have crossed the threshold of 10 and 15 years operating on diesel and petrol. (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO) The 2014 and 2018 orders were never strictly enforced, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which came to power this year in the Union territory, and which made pollution one of its campaign issues, sought to do so in April 2025 by denying fuel to overage vehicles — only to face significant pushback from people. The Delhi government, on July 25, then challenged the ban as unscientific and said a vehicle's fitness should be based on its emission level, and not age. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Bhushan R Gavai, justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria said, 'In the meantime, no coercive steps shall be taken against the owners of cars on the ground that they are 10 years old in respect of diesel and 15 years in respect of petrol vehicles.' The court issued notice on the Delhi government's application and posted the matter after four weeks. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta appeared for the Delhi government and sought urgent orders on the application claiming that the police is duty bound to act under the ban imposed by the court. 'Let there be no coercive action. Otherwise, police is under an obligation to take action against these vehicles,' Mehta said. There were similar applications moved by residents in Delhi and transport unions aggrieved by the ban. The court agreed to examine the issue. The order under challenge was passed by the top court on October 29, 2018 upholding the initial orders passed in this regard by the National Green Tribunal. The BJP-led government in Delhi said it was constrained to approach the top court considering the practical difficulties faced by the citizens in the Capital. The application filed last month said, 'To tackle the issue of pollution in the NCR region, a comprehensive policy is required which gives vehicle fitness based on the actual emission levels of an individual vehicle as per scientific methods rather than implementing a blanket ban based solely on the age of the vehicle.' The government also raised a public interest concern. It said, 'The directive to off road vehicles purely on the basis of age disproportionately affects middle-class citizens whose vehicles are less used, well-maintained, and compliant to fuel norms. It is submitted that the studies indicate that these vehicles often have significantly lower annual mileage and contribute negligibly to overall emissions.' It further stated that implementation of the court's order 'negatively affects' the market of second-hand cars, which alone is affordable by the poor and lower middle income class families residing in the region. Soon after coming to power in Delhi, the BJP government of the UT decided to deny fuel supply to end-of-life vehicles, which have crossed the threshold of 10 and 15 years operating on diesel and petrol. This decision was to be implemented from July 1. However, within days of implementation, the government sensed public sentiment and put its decision on hold. The application by the government acknowledged that the ban had a salutary aim in curbing pollution in Delhi over the past seven years. However, it said that the same was passed when Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) emission standards were in force. Since April 2020, it added, Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) has been implemented, which has much stricter and advanced norms. 'If the order of this court dated October 29, 2018 continues to operate, it will result in road worthy, non-polluting BS-VI vehicles also going off the roads in a matter of a few years without a scientific basis for the same…there does not appear to be a scientific basis for mandating that even BS-IV vehicles which meet PUC norms should be taken off the roads in Delhi NCR. These are serious issues which may require a fresh scientific evaluation,' the application said. The government's application said no data-based evidence currently exists to establish that all diesel vehicles older than 10 years or petrol vehicles older than 15 years are uniformly polluting. Instead, it said that the road-worthiness of a vehicle which is a technical and scientific issue must be linked to actual emissions as tested and recorded by mechanisms set out under the Motor Vehicles Act, the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, as opposed to a blanket ban on the basis of age which is unlinked to actual emissions. Prior to the SC order, the NGT had in November 2014 directed that all diesel vehicles (heavy or light) which are over 10 years old and petrol vehicles more than 15 years old will not be permitted to ply on Delhi roads. These orders were challenged multiple times before the top court which refused to interfere. On October 29, 2018, the court while considering the 92nd Report of the erstwhile Environmental Pollution Control Authority (now replaced by CAQM) accepted the suggestions of the amicus curiae endorsing the NGT order of November 2014. CAQM had used the VAHAN database to estimate 6.2 million ELVs (end of life vehicles) in Delhi, including 4.1 million two-wheelers and 1.8 million four-wheelers. However, government officials later clarified that this number includes vehicles that are already scrapped, de-registered, or issued no-objection certificates to be sold outside the NCR. A senior official familiar with the data said the actual number of ELVs still operating on Delhi roads is likely closer to 600,000—just 10% of the figure cited by CAQM. Delhi's total vehicle population is around 8.1 million, according to the Delhi Statistical Handbook 2024.
Mint
17 minutes ago
- Mint
Gensol employees face threat of double tax liability
Mumbai: Gensol Group companies deducted tax from employee salaries before going belly-up, but didn't deposit the tax deducted at source (TDS) with authorities for a year, four former executives who are aware of the matter said. That leaves about 2,200 former employees of the group in a situation where they might have to pay the taxes again, this time to the Income Tax department, as Indian law holds the employee liable for paying tax even where the employer is at fault, despite multiple court orders to the contrary. The group companies have not paid any salaries since March 2025, the former executives said on the condition of anonymity as they did not want to be publicly associated with the beleaguered group. Gensol Engineering and BluSmart Mobility went bankrupt amidst charges of promoters siphoning crores of rupees and misleading investors, and are separately undergoing corporate insolvency under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. 'They have not paid TDS since April 2024. I haven't filed my tax return yet. I don't know what to do," said one of the executives who quit months before the company went down. This executive added that employees have not received their Form 16 for the previous fiscal, which puts them in a spot over filing returns even as the 15 September deadline approaches. Form 16 is a certificate of TDS provided by the employer that helps employees reconcile tax deductions, and is an essential document for filing tax returns. A second former executive who is directly aware of the company's HR practices said that Gensol habitually deposited TDS lumpsum at the end of the year rather than making monthly deposits. 'They would always pay TDS late with penalties. Anmol (promoter Anmol Singh Jaggi) said that this was the company's usual practice," this person said. 'In a meeting with CXOs in March, he said he will pay TDS by 15 April. That never happened." The second executive added that there was no employee dashboard and 'the payrolls were made by hand". Queries sent to the promoters Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi on Monday remained unanswered as of press time Tuesday. Meanwhile, Keshav Khaneja, Gensol Engineering's interim resolution professional, said that he does not have access to employee salaries or TDS data as everyone has left the firm. He is trying to piece together the information on pending employee dues, he said. Law vs courts Legal experts say that under the Income Tax Act, 1961, the liability lies on the employee even if the employer fails to deposit TDS with the tax department. This is despite the Delhi, Karnataka and Gujarat High Courts ruling separately that the employee was not liable. The case brings flashbacks of the infamous bankruptcy of Kingfisher Airlines from over a decade ago when thousands of employees were left without pay and their TDS was similarly not deposited with the tax department. The employees subsequently received tax notices, prompting many to move court. Eventually, the Delhi, Karnataka and Gujarat High Courts separately ruled that employees were not liable and authorities must recover the dues from the airline. More recently, several thousand employees of beleaguered edtech platform Byju's also found themselves in a similar conundrum. The Bombay High Court provided relief last September with a ruling that employees were not liable for unpaid TDS when the employer is undergoing corporate insolvency. 'Unfortunately, this relief is flowing from judicial pronouncements and not from the statute itself," said Amit Singhania, founder of Areete Law Offices. 'Therefore, again the employees may have to knock the door of the Court, to get relief from tax demand arising from non-payment of TDS." The background The Gensol Group employed about 2,200 people across its various companies including flagship Gensol Engineering, ride-sharing platform BluSmart Mobility and several other unlisted subsidiaries including Gensol Electric Vehicles, Gensol EV Leasing, and Matrix Gas and Renewables. When the company went kaput overnight earlier this year, many jumped at the first offer that came their way, the former executives said, while most hung on to the hope of a resolution and the recovery of their unpaid dues. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) filed its interim order against Gensol Engineering Ltd and its promoters on 15 April. The regulator accused the promoters of siphoning crores of rupees from the company for personal expenses, and said that there was a complete breakdown of internal controls and corporate governance norms at the Mumbai-listed company. 'The promoters were running a listed public company as if it were a proprietary firm. The Company's funds were routed to related parties and used for unconnected expenses, as if the Company's funds were promoters' piggybank," Sebi wrote in its interim order. The diverted funds would ultimately have to be written off from the company's books, resulting in losses to the investors, Sebi said. Sebi's final order in the case is still pending.
Time of India
43 minutes ago
- Time of India
Raj Gopal fires fresh salvo, asks why 2 brothers can't be ministers
1 2 Hyderabad: Congress MLA Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy on Tuesday fired yet another salvo at Congress top guns, stating that didn't the party leadership know that they are two brothers, Komatireddy Raj Gopal Reddy and Venkat Reddy, in the grand old party, when promising him a cabinet berth. "I was promised a cabinet berth at the time of coming back into Congress from BJP during the assembly elections (in Nov 2023). After we two brothers won the assembly polls, again I was promised a cabinet berth at the time of the Lok Sabha elections (May 2024) to ensure the victory of Congress from Bhongir parliament seat. At least, then they would have been well aware that two brothers were legislators in Congress," he said. Stating that he was waiting patiently for the party high command to honour its promise of giving a cabinet berth to him, he said denial of a ministry to him would be deemed as an injustice to the the people of Munugode constituency, represented by him. "I will tolerate injustice to me but not to the people of my constituency," he said. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad | Gold Rates Today in Hyderabad | Silver Rates Today in Hyderabad On the comments of some Congress top leaders, including deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka that caste and other equations were the reasons for him not getting a cabinet berth so far, Raj Gopal pointed out that there were three ministers from Khammam, where nine Congress MLAs were there, and what was wrong in Nalgonda district having three ministers, which has 11 legislators from Congress. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play this game for 1 minute and see why everyone is addicted. Undo "We, both brothers, are efficient. What is wrong if two brothers, who are efficient, are ministers? I will continue to wait patiently even if there is a further delay in cabinet berth being given to me. You (Congress leadership) gave word, fulfil it. But until then, don't neglect Munugode's development. Why aren't the equations working out to take me into the cabinet? Who is blocking my entry?," he asked. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
