Parliament Passes New Income Tax Bill 2025; FM Says No New Tax Rates, Only Simplification

Parliament has passed the new Income Tax Bill, 2025, replacing the 1961 Act from April 1, 2026. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the Rajya Sabha the law imposes no new tax rates but simplifies language, cuts redundant provisions, and reduces sections from 819 to 536 and chapters from 47 to 23. Word count drops from 5.12 lakh to 2.6 lakh, with 39 new tables and 40 formulas for clarity. The Bill, reviewed by a 31-member Select Committee chaired by Jay Panda, drew inputs from experts nationwide, receiving 334 memoranda and making 566 recommendations, of which 370 were accepted as proposed.