No debate, LS approves new I-T Bill amid Opposition’s protest

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Income Tax (No. 2) Bill, 2025 without debate, amid unrelenting Opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. The House also cleared the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 by voice vote before adjourning for the day.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced both legislations earlier in the afternoon, just days after the government withdrew the original Income Tax Bill, 2025. The new draft incorporates almost all of the 566 recommendations made by the 31-member Select Committee chaired by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, along with several stakeholder suggestions to tighten definitions, remove ambiguities, and make the law easier to interpret.

The Bill replaces the Income-tax Act, 1961, which, over more than six decades and countless amendments, had grown unwieldy and complex, raising compliance burdens for taxpayers and complicating enforcement. According to the government, the fresh law aims to be “concise, lucid, and easy to read and understand.”

Among the significant committee-backed changes are, relief for taxpayers by amending provisions that previously barred refunds if returns were filed late, alignment of the definition of micro and small enterprises with the MSME Act, clarity for non-profits on definitions of ‘income’ versus ‘receipts’, treatment of anonymous donations, and removal of the “deemed application” concept.

The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 amends both the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the Finance Act, 2025. It grants tax exemptions to subscribers of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) -- bringing its benefits in line with the New Pension Scheme (NPS) -- and extends certain direct tax benefits to Saudi Arabia’s public investment funds. The Bill also makes changes to the scheme of block assessment in income tax search cases.

Both Bills were pushed through in the din, with opposition MPs shouting slogans and demanding a debate on electoral roll revisions. Parliament has been in near-constant turmoil since the start of the monsoon session, with repeated adjournments over the issue.

The government had pledged in the July 2024 Budget to carry out a time-bound overhaul of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Sports, anti-doping Bills passed

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the National Sports Governance Bill and National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill. Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya described the sports Bill as “the single biggest reform in Indian sports since Independence”