LS forms Select Committee to examine new Income Tax Bill; Baijayant Panda appointed Chairperson

Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Om Birla, on Friday constituted the 31-member Select Committee to examine the Income-Tax Bill, 2025 under the Chairmanship of Baijayant Panda, a Member of Parliament.

Other notable and distinguished members of the panel are Baijayant Panda, Dr. Nishikant Dubey, Jagadish Shettar, Sudheer Gupta, Anil Baluni, Raju Bista, Eatala Rajender, Vishnu Dayal Ram, Mukeshkumar Chandrakaant Dalal, P P Chaudhary, Shashank Mani, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Naveen Jindal, Anurag Sharma, Deepender Singh Hooda, Benny Behanan, Vijayakumar Alias Vijay Vasanth, Dr. Amar Singh, Adv. Gowaal Kagada Padavi, Md. Rakibul Hussain, Lalji Verma, Adv. Priya Saroj, Mahua Moitra, Dr. Kalanidhi Veeraswamy, Daggumalla Prasada Rao, Kaushalendra Kumar, Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Supriya Sule, Ravindra Dattaram Waikar, NK Premachandran, and Richard Vanlalhmangaiha.

While introducing the Bill in Parliament on Thursday, Finance Minister Sitharaman had urged Speaker Birla to refer the draft law to a select committee, which will submit its report by the first day of the next session. She also requested the Speaker to decide on the composition and rules for the proposed panel.


The committee is expected to thoroughly review the provisions of the Bill before it is presented for further discussion and approval.

The bill was introduced in the Parliament following cabinet approval.

The new bill will feature shorter sentences, provisos, and explanations, with the government stating that it will be 50% shorter than the current Income Tax Act. A key objective is to reduce litigation. The bill may also introduce lower penalties for certain offences, aiming to make the tax system more taxpayer-friendly.

The existing Income Tax Act consists of 298 sections across 23 chapters, covering personal income tax, corporate taxes, securities transaction tax, and gift tax. The new legislation is expected to remove irrelevant amendments and sections, with simplified, clear language that the public can understand without needing professional tax advice.

In addition to these reforms, the Bill seeks to reduce disputes and litigation while providing greater certainty for taxpayers. It introduces a "trust first, scrutinize later" approach, in line with the government’s principle of "minimum government, maximum governance." Unlike the 1961 Act, the Bill grants the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) the authority to set tax administration rules and implement digital tax monitoring systems. This is expected to improve efficiency and reduce the need for frequent legislative changes.

Set to take effect on April 1, 2026, the Bill marks a significant step toward creating a more transparent, efficient, and taxpayer-friendly system in India’s evolving tax framework.