ICAI sets up group to study new income-tax bill, says its president CS Nanda

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has formed a five-member group to closely examine various provisions of the new Income-tax bill and it has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) tool on the bill as well, its new president Charanjot Singh Nanda said on Friday.

ET had on Thursday reported that the ICAI has formed the group after the Central Board of Direct Taxes asked it to provide in-depth inputs on the new income tax bill and suggest changes, if any.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday introduced the bill, which aims to usher in a simplified and investor-friendly income-tax regime, in the Lok Sabha.

The bill was referred to a parliamentary select committee for detailed scrutiny and recommendations.

The New Income Tax Bill 2025 GPT will provide “quick summary and deep analysis”of the bill, Nanda, who took over as the head of the institute earlier this week, said in a statement. It would be available to all the chartered accountants who are members of the institute.

“This bill is a measure for strengthening employment generation, MSME growth as it would simplify India's tax structure and will give a boost to the Indian economy,” Nanda said.

The new bill, the ICAI said, will replace the concept of previous year and assessment year with "tax year" and "financial year succeeding the tax year". It will do away with the provisos and explanations, club related provisions for ease of comprehension and list out exemption provisions in detail.

The provisions relating to charitable trusts spread across different chapters of the Income-tax Act, 1961, are being simplified and consolidated in a single chapter, it said.

All provisions around tax deducted at source are now contained in one section and presented in the form of a table.

All presumptive income provisions for residents have been grouped and presented in a single clause, the institute said.

Similarly, all presumptive income provisions for non-residents have been grouped and presented in a single clause, it added.

Further, the obsolete sections in the Income-tax Act, 1961, are being scrapped in the new bill, which makes it less voluminous.

Thanks to the extensive use of tables, the number of words in the new bill is being reduced by almost 50% vis-a-vis the current one, the institute said.