Page 5 - Income Tax

March 31 deadline: Invest in tax saving instruments to claim deduction

If you have chosen the old tax regime, ensure that your tax-saving investments under Sections 80C, 80D, 80G, and others are made before March 31 to maximise tax benefits

Social media accounts accessed only in search, survey ops: I-T official

The new Income Tax Bill prescribes the existing process for tax authorities to gain access to the digital space or a computer device only during search and survey operations, and it is not aimed to breach the online privacy of common taxpayers even if their case lands into scrutiny, a top I-T department official said Monday. The powers for such a coercive action "already existed" in the 1961 Act, and these have only been reiterated in the Income Tax Bill of 2025, he said. The official rejected claims made in some reports and opinion pieces that the tax authorities have been granted "additional" powers to breach the passwords of electronic records, including email, social media handles and Cloud storage space of the taxpayers. "Such reports are nothing but fear mongering. The tax department is not into snooping of social media accounts or online activities of a taxpayer. "These powers are only to be executed during the course of a search or survey operation, and that too when the ..

Over 30k taxpayers declare foreign assets worth ₹29k cr in CBDT's campaign

Over 30,000 taxpayers have revised their I-T returns or filed belated returns and declared additional foreign assets and income of more than Rs 30,000 crore, Government sources said on Thursday. In line with its 'trust-first' approach, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had on November 16 last year, launched an awareness campaign under which messages were sent to taxpayers who had not disclosed high-value foreign income or assets in their ITRs for AY 2024-25. SMSes and emails were sent to 19,501 taxpayers with high foreign account balances or significant foreign income from interest or dividends above a specified threshold. These communications requested taxpayers to revise their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) to reflect their foreign assets and income accurately. Sources said 24,678 taxpayers reviewed their ITRs and 5,483 taxpayers filed belated returns for AY 2024-25, declaring foreign assets worth Rs 29,208 crore and additional foreign income of Rs 1,089.88 crore. Also, 6,734

I-T notices: High-value expenses must sync with bank withdrawals, e-txn

Tax experts say that when declared income is high but bank withdrawals are minimal, it raises concerns about unreported cash transactions

How many times a taxpayer is allowed to switch between old & new tax regime

Salaried taxpayers with non-business income can switch between tax regimes yearly. Those with business income who opt out of the new regime cannot re-enter later

Govt may ease norms to allow 2-month window for ITC on credit notes

Move would give taxpayers flexibility and preclude a financial burden

CBDT amends norms, mandates detailed income disclosures for business trusts

For tax purposes, business trusts such as REITs, InvITs, and certain AIFs get pass-through status and are not taxed on the income earned by them

Income-Tax Bill 2025: File tax return by due date to be eligible for refund

Deductions related to salary, including standard deduction and leave encashment, are now grouped under a single clause

Parliamentary panel examining Income Tax Bill holds first meeting

The Finance Ministry on Monday briefed the members of a Select Committee of Lok Sabha on various aspects of the Income Tax Bill as the panel headed by BJP MP Baijayant 'Jay' Panda held its first meeting. Sources said the finance secretary told the parliamentarians that the Bill will simplify the existing Act, enacted over six decades back, and make it more user-friendly. Lok Sabha sent the Bill to the committee on the request of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after she introduced it in the House in the first half of Parliament's Budget Session. Sitharaman had said the new I-T Bill will carry forward the spirit of "Nyaya" (justice) based on the concept of "trust first, scrutinise later". The Bill seeks to replace terminologies such as assessment year and previous year with the easier-to-understand tax year as part of a move to simplify language while removing provisos and explanations. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had constituted the 31-member Select Committee on February ...

Gujarat govt presents Rs 3.70 trillion Budget, no new tax proposed

Gujarat Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai on Thursday presented a Rs 3.70 lakh crore budget for the state for the financial year 2025-26, giving tax reliefs of Rs 148 crore. Also, no new tax was proposed in the budget, presented by Desai in the state assembly here on the second day of its budget session. Desai informed the House that the budget outlay of Rs 3,70,250 crore for 2025-26 indicates an increase of Rs 37,785 crore, or 11.3 per cent, compared to the previous fiscal. The state government proposed a tax relief of Rs 148 crore in the form of reduction in stamp duty on mortgage deeds and on motor vehicle tax on electric vehicles. In his budgetary address, Desai announced a host of new schemes and projects and said the budget was based on five pillars - social security, human resource development, infrastructure development, green growth and development of economic activities. Desai said the state government has prepared a roadmap for 'Viksit Gujarat 2047' to realize Prime ...

Income Tax dept activates section-wise mapping of old I-T Act, new tax bill

Income Tax payers can now match the sections of the I-Tax Act, 1961, with the corresponding clauses in the simplified I-T Bill, 2025, on the tax department portal. Also, Section to Section mapping as per Income Tax Act, 1961 and Section number as per New Income Tax Bill has been uploaded on the I-T department's website. A simplified Income Tax Bill, 2025, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 13 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The Bill, once enacted, will replace the 64 years old Income Tax Act which has become bulky over time with its traditional style of drafting and numerous amendments. The simplified Bill has a word count of 2.6 lakh, lower than 5.12 lakh in the I-T Act. The number of Sections is 536, as against 819 effective sections in the existing law. The number of chapters also have been halved to 23 from 47 currently. The Bill has 57 tables, compared to 18 in the existing act, besides formulae which make it easier for a taxpayer to calculate tax liability. I

Baijayant Jay Panda to head 31-member select committee to examine I-T Bill

The select committee of the Lok Sabha, which will examine the Income-Tax Bill, 2025, was constituted on Friday, with BJP MP Baijayant Jay Panda appointed as chairman of the panel. The committee will have 31 MPs, including 17 from the ruling National Democratic Alliance. The NDA MPs include 14 from the BJP and one each from the TDP, JD(U), and the Shiv Sena. The opposition parties have 13 MPs, including six from the Congress, two from the Samajwadi Party and one each from the DMK, the TMC, the Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP (SP) and the RSP. One MP, Richard Vanlalhmangaiha, is from the Mizoram's ruling Zoram People's Movement. Besides Panda, the BJP's members include Nishikant Dubey, P P Chaudhary, Bhartruhari Mahtab and Anil Baluni. Opposition MPs include Deepender Singh Hooda of the Congress, Mahua Moitra of the TMC, Supriya Sule of the NCP (SP) and N K Premachandran of the RSP. The panel is mandated to submit its report by the first day of the Monsoon session. The ongoing Budget Sess

Select Committee of Lok Sabha to examine Income Tax Bill constituted

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday constituted a 31-member Select Committee of the lower house to examine the Income Tax Bill. To be headed by BJP's Baijayant Panda, the panel is mandated to submit its report by the first day of the next session. The ongoing Budget Session will conclude on April 4 and the Monsoon session could commence in the third or fourth week of July. While introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had urged Birla to refer the draft law to a Select Committee of the House. The much-anticipated Bill will replace terminologies such as "assessment year" and "previous year" with the easier-to-understand "tax year" as part of a move to simplify language while removing provisos and explanations.

TDS to capital gains tax: What impact new tax Bill will have on NRIs

NRIs who earn Rs 15 lakh or more annually in India will be classified as residents for tax purposes

Income Tax Bill, 2025: A pivotal step towards making law accessible

The traditional style of drafting the law has led to enormous tax litigation over the past six decades

Income-tax law: New layout, old provisions, but complexities remain

Certain amendments on trust taxation are welcome. All classes of registered non-profit institutions such as public trusts, society, university/educational institutions have been identified

New income-tax law: A case for simplification in language and format

Over the years, several attempts have been made to reform Income Tax Act, the first being between 1986 and 1991, second in 1996, third in 2010 in the form of Direct Taxes Code (DTC), and then in 2017

FM Nirmala Sitharaman introduces new Income-Tax Bill in Lok Sabha

Speaker to send the bill for examination to a select committee of house members

Best of BS Opinion: Creative policymaking needed to resolve knotty issues

Policymaking must find simpler ways of resolving seemingly complex problems: such an approach frees up economic agents for productive activity

The new Income Tax Bill FAQs: I-T department answers key questions

The simplified Income Tax Bill, which is half the size of the 1961 Income Tax Act, seeks to achieve tax certainty by minimising the scope of litigation and fresh interpretation, the Income Tax department said on Thursday. The new bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha, has a word count of 2.6 lakh, lower than 5.12 lakh in the I-T Act. The number of sections is 536, as against 819 effective sections in the existing law. The number of chapters has also been halved to 23 from 47, according to the FAQ issued by the I-T department. The Income Tax Bill 2025, has 57 tables, compared to 18 in the existing Act and removed 1,200 provisos and 900 explanations. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha, had said that "substantial changes" have been made in the Bill. The number of words have been halved from 5.12 lakh, and sections reduced from 819 to 236. Following introduction, the Bill was referred to the select committee of the Lok Sabha and mandated to sub