Athira Sethu
Kochi, 7 February 2025
According to sources, the cabinet is likely to clear the new Income Tax Bill that is to replace the 60-year-old Income Tax Act of 1961 today. The new bill was introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her Budget speech and seeks to simplify taxes and make them more accessible to taxpayers. It will also carry forward the changes made in the 2025-26 Budget – updated income tax rates, slabs, and TDS provisions.
Speaking at a PHD Chambers event, Pandey said the new bill would be less wordy and easier to understand, without using jargon and heavy legal terms, which are long sentences and provisions and explanations. It aims at making the law more accessible for the public in general rather than for legal pundits.
Pandey informed that no fresh taxes would come into being in the name of this bill or burden on any taxpayer. New policy change cannot be there so that there cannot be a fresh instability in this tax regime of the country as the intent to simplify the law is more focused on policy non-change and simple law instead.
Drafted in just six months, this new bill reduces the complexity of language and provisions. The unnecessary and outdated clauses will be done away with; hence, this new law is going to be concise, meaning that taxpayers are going to understand it easily without needing any expert legal knowledge in order to interpret their tax obligations.
To put it simply, the new Income Tax Bill will simplify and modernize India’s tax laws and make them friendlier while retaining the existing policies stable.
