LS passes new Income Tax Bill

INDIVIDUALS FAILING TO FILE ITR IN TIME CAN CLAIM REFUNDS

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Bill (No. 2) 2025—a major legislative move to replace the 63-year-old law governing income taxation for individuals and corporations—was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday in just three minutes, without any debate.

The Bill, which streamlines TDS, exemptions, and other compliance-heavy provisions, as also allows individuals to claim refunds without penalty on delayed filings, was passed as the opposition parties continued to disrupt proceedings over allegations of irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who had on August 8 withdrawn the Income Tax Bill, 2025, she had introduced in February, on Monday introduced an updated version incorporating recommendations made by a Parliamentary panel that scrutinized the legislation. Amid slogan shouting by the opposition, the bill was put to vote and passed by voice vote.

The Bill will now go to the Rajya Sabha for approval and thereafter to the President for assent. It will become law once the Presidential assent is provided.

The new bill reduces the size and complexity of the current Income Tax Act, drastically cutting the number of effective sections and chapters and nearly halving the word count.