Panel Backs Friendly Course on Tax-Avoidance in New Bill

The bill, once approved by Parliament and President, will replace the Income Tax Act, 1961.

- Gireesh Chandra Prasad

Lok Sabha panel reviewing the Income Tax Bill, 2025 is set to propose a more taxpayer-friendly approach to anti-avoidance provisions aimed at curbing aggressive tax planning.

The government is likely to accept most of the Select Committee's 285 recommendations and plans to reintroduce revised legislation in the monsoon session of Parliament starting on Monday, according to three persons aware of the working of the panel and the thinking in the government.

The bill, once approved by Parliament and assented to by the President, will replace the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The committee, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party's Lok Sabha member Baijayant Panda, is set to recommend that India's General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) that disallow transactions mainly designed to avoid tax, should be assessed with regard to the specific context of each case.