The first meeting of the Select Committee examining the Income Tax Bill 2025 will be held on Monday. At the meeting, officials of the Ministry of Finance will brief the panel members on the salient features of the proposed legislation.
The 31-member committee headed by senior BJP MP Baijayant Panda will also discuss the future course of action, including the modalities of conducting the proceedings, the stakeholders to be involved and the extent of the consultation process.
The Bill is aimed at simplifying the existing Income Tax Act, 1961, which was subjected to numerous amendments and as a result, its basic structure has been “overburdened and language has become complex, increasing cost of compliance for taxpayers and hampering efficiency of direct-tax administration”, the Statement of Objects and Reasons said.
The Bill was tabled in Lok Sabha on February 13, on the last day of the first leg of the Budget Session, by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The panel, which has 14 BJP MPs and six Congress lawmakers among others, has been given time till the first day of the next Session to submit the report.
Besides Panda, the members of the panel include Nishikant Dubey, Jagadish Shettar, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Naveen Jindal (all BJP), Deepender Hooda, Benny Behanan (both Congress), Moitra (Trinamool Congress), NK Premachandran (RSP), Supriya Sule (NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar), Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-UBT) and Lalji Verma (Samajwadi Party).
Separately, the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the two ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bills will hold its third meeting on Tuesday, during which it will interact with experts, including former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit and former Law Commission Chairman Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, who is presently a Lokpal judicial member.
The panel will also hear Ram Nath Kovind-led High-Level Committee on Simultaneous Secretary Dr Niten Chandra and former Congress MP EM Sudarsana Natchiappan, who headed a Parliamentary panel which recommended ‘ONOE’.
Source from: https://www.deccanherald.com/india/parliament-panel-to-discuss-income-tax-bill-tomorrow-3417754
