1: Lok Sabha passed Income-Tax (No 2) Bill and Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill on Monday without debate.
2: The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day after the bills were passed.
The Lok Sabha passed Income-Tax (No 2) Bill and Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill on Monday amid Opposition protests.
The Income-Tax (No. 2) Bill, 2025, introduced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha earlier in the day, seeks to consolidate and amend the law relating to the Income Tax Act, 1961, replacing the existing legislation. The Bill incorporates almost all recommendations of the Select Committee headed by senior BJP member Baijayant Panda, PTI reported.
Alongside, the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 — which also amends the Income-tax Act, 1961, as well as the Finance Act, 2025 — aims to provide tax exemptions to subscribers of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).
"Almost all of the recommendations of the Select Committee have been accepted by the government. In addition, suggestions have been received from stakeholders about changes that would convey the proposed legal meaning more accurately," reads the statement of objects and reasons of the Income-Tax (No. 2) Bill, 2025.
The Select Committee had proposed several changes to the Income-tax Bill, 2025, initially introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 13. "There are corrections in the nature of drafting, alignment of phrases, consequential changes and cross-referencing. Therefore, a decision has been taken by the government to withdraw the Income-tax Bill, 2025 as reported by the Select Committee. Consequently, Income-tax (No. 2) Bill, 2025 has been prepared to replace the Income-tax Act, 1961," the statement said.
The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, passed by voice vote in the Lok Sabha, also makes changes to the scheme of block assessment in Income Tax search cases and provides certain direct tax benefits to public investment funds of Saudi Arabia. It further aligns tax benefits for UPS subscribers with those available under the New Pension Scheme, which the government had announced in July would apply from April 1, 2025.
Both Bills were passed without any debate amid loud protests from Opposition members over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. Following their passage by voice vote, the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day.
(With inputs from PTI)
