Latest news with #TaxationLaws(Amendment)Bill
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman slams opposition for skipping debate on I-T Bill in Rajya Sabha
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in Lok Sabha during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Sansad TV/ANI Video Grab) NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday slammed major opposition parties for not taking part in the discussion and passage of the new Income Tax Bill in Rajya Sabha, saying that all parties in the Business Advisory Committee had agreed to debate the Bill for 16 hours each in the two houses of Parliament. The Bill was returned to Lok Sabha after discussion. The Lower House had passed the Bill on Monday. The Bill will replace the Income-Tax Act, 1961, and seeks to make direct tax law easy to read, understand and implement. Replying to the discussion in which MPs from BJP and its allies -- YSRCP and TDP -- participated, Sitharaman said, "I am shocked that the Opposition doesn't want to participate. The Opposition had agreed in the BAC to debate the bill in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya don't want to discuss anything, we want to have charcha. We agreed for 16 hours of charcha (discussion) in the Lok Sabha and 16 hours of charcha here (Rajya Sabha). ..where are they today?" She also said that while the Opposition often alleges that there is a need to discuss matters of public interest, it didn't participate in the discussion on a Bill which impacts a large section of society. The new law will come into force on April 1, 2026. The FM said that the Bill does not impose any new tax rate and only simplifies the language used. The FM also introduced Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 which seeks to provide tax exemption for public investment funds of Saudi Arabia and its subsidiaries, tax exemption for partial withdrawal by subscribers of Unified Pension Scheme.
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Economic Times
Rajya Sabha uproar: Mallikarjun Kharge raises Bihar voter rolls, JP Nadda counters
The Rajya Sabha continued to witness disruptions on Tuesday, with Opposition members demanding a discussion on the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, prompting deputy chairman Harivansh to adjourn the House till 2 pm soon after the papers were laid on the table. The House was adjourned again to meet at 3 pm. Once the proceedings resumed, leader of the House JP Nadda countered leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge after the Congress leader sought to raise the issue of SIR. BJD's Sasmit Patra, who was in the Chair, allowed sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya to move the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025, and the National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025, for passing. The Opposition MPs urged the chair to allow Kharge to speak. On the Chair's instruction, Kharge rose and sought to speak on SIR. After Patra's objection, the Opposition walked out. Nadda countered Kharge and said the Opposition did not believe in healthy democracy. After the Opposition walked out, the government discussed and passed the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025, the National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Income Tax Bill, 2025, and the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Parliament passes new Income Tax Bill to replace six-decade-old law
Parliament on Tuesday (August 12, 2025) passed a new Income Tax Bill to replace the six-decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961, that will come into force from April 1, 2026. Piloting the Income Tax Bill, 2025 in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it did not impose any new tax rate and only simplified the language, which was required for understanding the complex Income Tax laws. The new Bill removes redundant provisions and archaic language and reduces the number of Sections from 819 in the Income Tax Act of 1961 to 536 and the number of chapters from 47 to 23. The number of words had been reduced from 5.12 lakh to 2.6 lakh in the new Income Tax Bill, and for the first time, it introduces 39 new tables and 40 new formulas, replacing the dense text of the 1961 law to enhance clarity. "These changes are not merely superficial; they reflect a new, simplified approach to tax administration. This leaner and more focused law is designed to make it easy to read, understand and implement," Ms. Sitharaman said while replying to a short debate in the absence of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Along with the Income Tax Bill, 2025, the House also returned the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, to the Lok Sabha that had passed these money Bills on Monday. "To remove confusion, I want to say that the aim of bringing in this new law is to simplify the language and lucidity, which is required for understanding," the Minister said. Ms. Sitharaman further emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given clear instructions — COVID or no COVID — tax burden on people should not be increased. "We have not increased any new tax," she said. She said the taxpayer-friendly Income Tax Act 2025, replacing the 1961 Act, was a milestone for the country's financial system. "I am shocked that the Opposition doesn't want to participate. The Opposition had agreed in the Business Advisory Committee to debate the Bill in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha," she said. Most often, the Opposition says, she noted, "you don't want to discuss anything, we want to have charcha. We agreed for 16 hours of charcha in the Lok Sabha and 16 hours of charcha here (Rajya Sabha)...where are they today". The Opposition had earlier staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha, demanding a discussion on special intensive revision of the voter list in Bihar. The new Income Tax Bill was drafted within a record time of six months and introduced in the Budget session in February 2025. The drafting of the new Bill involved nearly 75,000 person-hours, with a team of dedicated officers of the Income Tax department working tirelessly. The Minister informed the House that soon the Finance Ministry would be issuing FAQs and an information memorandum for more information on the new legislation. She further said Ministry officials were busy formulating rules, which would be simpler like the Bill. As the new law will come into force from April 1, 2026, the computer systems of the Income Tax department are required to be rebooted to operationalise the new legislation. The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, also passed by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha, incorporated changes in the scheme of block assessment with regard to Income Tax search cases, and would provide for certain direct tax benefits to public investment funds of Saudi Arabia. It seeks to amend the Income Tax Act, 1961 and also the Finance Act, 2025. The government in July announced that all tax benefits available under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) shall apply to the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which was implemented from April 1, 2025.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
New Income Tax Bill is through, will replace six-decade-old Income Tax Act
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Parliament on Tuesday passed the new income tax bill , to replace the six-decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961, which seeks to make direct tax law easier to read, understand and Rajya Sabha returned the legislation to the Lok Sabha with a voice vote as part of the parliamentary new bill introduces the concept of a "tax year", replacing the financial year and assessment year to reduce confusion. It also broadens the definition of 'virtual digital assets' to include crypto-assets, non-fungible tokens and other digital assets as specified by the bill also makes it mandatory for taxpayers to provide access to virtual spaces such as social media accounts, email servers and cloud storage during a search minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will issue standard operating procedures on handling digital data during searches to protect taxpayer privacy. She also said that the computer systems need to be "rebooted" for the new law by April 1, 2026."These changes are not superficial, they reflect a new simplified approach to tax administration and the leaner and more focused law is designed to make it easy to read, understand and implement," she said, responding to the discussion in the upper slammed the opposition for not participating in the discussion on such an important legislation after agreeing to 16 hours of debate on the bill in both houses in the Business Advisory Committee."I am shocked that the opposition doesn't want to participate," Sitharaman parties staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, as they had done in the Lok Sabha on the previous bill had already been passed by the Lok said that it is important to pass the bill on time as the income tax department has to upgrade its computer system and there is very less time as the government has to implement the new law from April 1 next finance minister also introduced the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha, to provide tax exemption to public investment funds of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its subsidiaries, tax exemption for partial withdrawal of subscribers of the Unified Pension Scheme to make it more attractive and change the definition of 'income' in block assessments during search and seizure changes are included in the new income tax bill. "Normally taxation amendments are done with finance bills, we could wait for the finance bill (next year), but because of the economy everybody wants to have it very quickly... Look at how things are developing," Sitharaman said.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
New income tax bill passed in Parliament; to replace 60-year-old law
Parliament on Tuesday passed a new income tax bill to replace the six-decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961, that will come into force from April 1, 2026. Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Kiren Rijiju and Mansukh Mandaviya during voting in the Lok Sabha on the withdrawal of the Income Tax Bill 2025 at the Monsoon session of Parliament.(Sansad TV) Piloting the Income Tax Bill, 2025, in the Rajya Sabha, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it does not impose any new tax rate and only simplifies the language, which is required for understanding the complex income tax laws. The new bill removes redundant provisions and archaic language and reduces the number of Sections from 819 in the Income Act of 1961 to 536 and the number of chapters from 47 to 23. Also Read | Income Tax Bill cleared in Lok Sabha: Here's what it means The number of words has been reduced from 5.12 lakhs to 2.6 lakhs in the new income tax bill, and for the first time, it introduces 39 new tables and 40 new formulas, replacing the dense text of the 1961 law to enhance clarity. "These changes are not merely superficial; they reflect a new, simplified approach to tax administration. This leaner and more focused law is designed to make it easy to read, understand and implement," Sitharaman said while replying to a short debate in the absence of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. Along with the Income Tax Bill, 2025, the House also returned the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, to the Lok Sabha that had passed these money bills on Monday. "To remove confusion, I want to say that the aim of bringing in this new law is to simplify the language and lucidity, which is required for understanding," the minister said. Sitharaman further emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given clear instructions - Covid or no Covid - tax burden on people should not be increased. "We have not increased any new tax," she said. She said the taxpayer-friendly Income Tax Act 2025, replacing the 1961 Act, is a milestone for the country's financial system. "I am shocked that the Opposition doesn't want to participate. The Opposition had agreed in the Business Advisory Committee to debate the bill in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha," she said. Most often, the Opposition says, she noted, "you don't want to discuss anything, we want to have charcha. We agreed for 16 hours of charcha in the Lok Sabha and 16 hours of charcha here (Rajya Sabha)...where are they today". The Opposition had earlier staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha, demanding a discussion on special intensive revision of the voters' list in Bihar. The new income tax bill was drafted within a record time of 6 months and introduced in the Budget session in February 2025. The drafting of the new bill involved nearly 75,000 person-hours, with a team of dedicated officers of the Income Tax department working tirelessly. The minister informed the House that soon the finance ministry will be issuing FAQs and an information memorandum for more information on the new legislation. She further said ministry officials are busy formulating rules, which will be simpler like the bill. As the new law will come into force from April 1, 2026, the computer systems of the income tax department are required to be rebooted to operationalise the new legislation. The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, also passed by voice in the Rajya Sabha, incorporated changes in the scheme of block assessment with regard to Income Tax search cases, and would provide for certain direct tax benefits to public investment funds of Saudi Arabia. It seeks to amend the Income Tax Act, 1961 and also the Finance Act, 2025. The government in July announced that all tax benefits available under the New Pension Scheme (NPS) shall apply to the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which was implemented from April 1, 2025.
