Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday introduced the Income-Tax Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha that seeks to repeal the Income-tax Act, 1961 and re-enact the proposed legislation so that no additional expenditure of significance, apart from what is being spent on the administration of the said Act, is contemplated by reason merely of the passing of this Bill.
While introducing the bill, Sitharaman said that the bill will consolidate and amend the law relating to Income Tax.
The Income-tax Act passed in 1961 has been subjected to numerous amendments since its passage sixty years ago. As a result of these amendments, the basic structure of the Income-tax Act has been overburdened, and language has become complex, increasing the cost of compliance for taxpayers and hampering the efficiency of direct tax administration.
Tax administrators, practitioners, and taxpayers have also raised concerns about the complicated provisions and structure of the Income-tax Act.
Therefore, the government in the budget in July 2024 announced that a time-bound comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act, 1961 would be undertaken to make the Act concise, lucid, and easy to read and understand.
Moreover, the Income-tax Bill, 2025 has been prepared, which proposes to repeal and replace the Income-tax Act, 1961.
