CBDT introduces self-help tool to provide instant answers to I-T bill 2025

The tool provides a comprehensive mapping of the parts from the old and new tax legislation

The Income Tax Department has introduced an online self-help tool to assist taxpayers in understanding the changes proposed in the Income Tax Bill 2025. This tool, available on the official income tax department's website, allows taxpayers to compare the provisions of the new bill with those of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

 

The comparison tool enables taxpayers to choose a specific section from the current Income Tax Act using a dropdown menu. Upon selection, the corresponding clause from the new Income Tax Bill will be displayed on the right-hand side. To enhance clarity, the mapping can also be presented in a table format.

 

The utility for comparing sections of the Income Tax Act, 1961, with the corresponding clauses of the new Income Tax Bill has been activated,' Income Tax Department announced via a post on X.

 

The New Income Tax Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 13, 2025, with the objective of simplifying the complex Income Tax Act of 1961. Over the years, the Act has undergone numerous modifications, with annual updates through the Union Budget. 

 

The new tax bill has been simplified and made more comprehensible by significantly reducing its word count from 5.12 lakh in the current Income Tax Act to 2.6 lakh in the new bill. It streamlines tax regulations, making them easier for taxpayers to understand by reducing the number of chapters from 47 to 23 and sections from 819 to 536.

 

A key change in terminology is the replacement of 'assessment year' and 'previous year' with 'tax year,' which denotes the 12-month period beginning on April 1.

 

The readability of tax law has been enhanced by replacing traditional legal language with simpler terminology. Sections covering multiple scenarios have been made enumerative, and wherever possible, table formats have been extensively used. TDS provisions are now presented in a tabular form, and certain sections, like Section 10— which previously contained around 150 clauses—have been moved to Schedules and formatted as tables. This comprehensive revision has not only reduced the size of the new Bill by nearly half, but also consolidated provisions into a more user-friendly format.