No retrospective change in I-T Bill, only simplification of law: Select panel chief

The new Income-Tax Bill does not override the intent of the Income Tax Act, 1961, but simplifies its language and structure, said Lok Sabha Member Baijayant Panda, who chaired the 31-member select committee to review its draft. In an interview with Monika Yadav in New Delhi, Panda said that resources need to be scaled up with the rising number of filings. Edited excerpts:

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Do you believe the Bill has been simplified enough to significantly reduce tax disputes and litigation?

This is the first step towards simplification. The law has become complicated. It is 64 years old and has undergone more than 4,000 amendments, resulting in complexity and frequent litigation. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, nearly 1,500 laws have been repealed and replaced with simplified, new legislation. So, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that we will do the same thing with the Income-Tax Act.

So as a first step, it was decided that without changing the policies, the focus would be on how the existing Act could be simplified. That is the Bill that was presented in Parliament a few months ago, and that is the Bill that was sent to my select committee for vetting.