New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the new Income Tax Bill, currently under review by a select committee, will be taken up for discussion in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during a discussion of the Finance Bill, Sitharaman said the select committee has been mandated to submit its report by the first day of the next session.
“I am also glad to say that through this Finance Bill, we have brought in the new Income Tax Bill. I have not presented it as part of the Finance Bill… It’s gone into a select committee review, after which we will take it up (in Parliament),” Sitharaman said.
“…Hopefully we will have it (new income tax bill) taken up for discussion in this House during the monsoon session,” she added.
The Lok Sabha has constituted a 31-member select committee, chaired by BJP member of Parliament Baijayant Jay Panda, to examine the Income Tax Bill 2025.
The bill, which will replace the 64-year-old Income Tax Act, seeks to achieve tax certainty by minimizing the scope of litigation and fresh interpretation.
Meanwhile, responding to queries, the finance minister said the government is examining proposals to reduce the goods and services tax (GST) on certain agricultural inputs.
Sitharaman said a dedicated group of ministers (GoM) is looking into the proposal though the 45th GST Council meeting held in September 2021 didn’t recommend reducing GST on farm inputs.
“So, the items will be looked at by the GoM and they will take a call,” she said.
Sitharaman also said the government has slashed the tariff rates on industrial goods from 21% to 8% and barred cess and surcharge on any item to spur domestic demand and enhance export competitiveness.
“Surcharge (Social Welfare Surcharge) will be now exempted from 82 tariff lines, which are subject to a cess. So, the double burden of both cess and surcharge on any particular item is being removed,” she added.
Sitharaman also told the Lok Sabha that the proposal in the Income Tax Bill, 2025, which seeks to allow authorized tax officials to gain access to computer systems or virtual digital space where its access code is not available, was meant to address a gap in the existing Income Tax Act provision that allows such access.
The proposal allows officials to override any access code to reach these digital systems.
The minister informed the House that where an assessee is not cooperating, provisions allowing an authorized officer to gain access to such computer systems exist even now. But officials accessing digital storage and communication systems are being specifically being mentioned in the new bill to address a gap in the 1961 Income Tax Act. Digital evidence has helped to solve tax evasion cases, the minister said.
“Unaccounted money to the extent of ₹250 crore has been detected when the encryption has been decoded,” the minister said, referring to a case cracked by accessing encrypted messages. Also, evidence seized from WhatsApp messages has helped to detect crypto assets worth ₹90 crore and the network of people involved in it, the minister said.
“Evidence has been found with the help of Google Maps history. Google Maps history found on phone was used to determine the frequented locations of individuals who had enabled location history,” the minister said, adding that locations where unaccounted cash was kept was detected this way. “Instagram account was used to establish the beneficial ownership of vehicles,” the minister said, referring to a case involving benami property.
Sitharaman also said the central government may scrap a 6% tax on digital online advertisements, which, introduced in 2016, taxed payments made by Indian businesses to foreign companies for digital advertising services.
“Have proposed to remove 6% equalization levy for advertisements,” the finance minister informed the Lok Sabha.
News agency Reuters has reported that the decision on levy takes effect from 1 April.
The move by the Centre comes after the concerns faced by the country by US president Donald Trump’s threats of reciprocal tariffs.
US tech giants like Meta, Amazon and Alphabet are expected to benefit from the central government’s decision to remove the equalization levy.
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