Two major tax bills cleared in Lok Sabha amid opposition protests

New Delhi: In a brief yet consequential sitting on Monday, the Lok Sabha passed two major financial legislations, the Income-Tax Bill, 2025 and the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, amid noisy opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moved the Bills, calling on the House to consider key amendments to the Income-tax Act, 1961 and the Finance Act, 2025. The session resumed at 4 p.m. with Sandhya Rai presiding. Despite a raucous atmosphere with opposition members chanting slogans like "Vote ki chori band karo" and "SIR wapas lo," the Bills were passed by voice vote.

The Income-Tax Bill, 2025, is set to replace the sixty-four-year-old Income-tax Act, 1961, integrating more than 285 recommendations from the Parliamentary Select Committee chaired by BJP MP Baijayant Panda. The revamped Bill is notable for simplifying tax language, clarifying deductions, and enhancing cross-referencing of provisions. It specifically addresses previously ambiguous aspects of income from house property, such as standard deductions and pre-construction interest on home loans.

Other changes include clearer definitions for terms like “capital asset,” “micro and small enterprises,” and “beneficial owner,” and bring alignment in tax treatment for pension contributions and scientific research outlays. The law is scheduled to take effect from April 1, 2026.

The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, brings targeted reforms: it extends tax exemptions to Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) subscribers, bringing parity with the New Pension Scheme (NPS), and grants direct tax relief under Section 10 (23FE) to the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and its subsidiaries investing in India. The Bill also refines block assessment rules in income tax search cases, with the aim of streamlining the resolution of pending assessments and reassessments during such operations.

Despite the legislative importance, the session was overshadowed by opposition members’ demands to withdraw the SIR process, citing concerns over electoral integrity. The Chair ultimately adjourned the House until Tuesday.

In parallel, the Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day following special discussions on public concerns, including the excessive use of mobile phones among youth and children’s ready access to obscene material on the Internet.

With inputs from IANS