"New bill will make lives of India's taxpayers much easier": BJP MP Tejasvi Surya

Speaking to ANI, the BJP MP from South Bengaluru said that India's Direct Taxation System will be overhauled to make it modern, simple, rational, and more compliance-friendly.

"For almost 60 years, India's Income Tax Act was not reviewed. Like many other areas where PM Narendra Modi's government has brought tremendous reforms, India's Direct Taxation System will also be overhauled to make it modern, simple, rational, and more compliance-friendly," Surya said.

"We did the same for India's indirect taxation system through GST... From the perspective of the common man, it has brought down the prices of goods and services, which was not the case under the earlier VAT regime. The new Income Tax Bill is going to make the lives of India's taxpayers much easier," he added.

Reacting to the JPC report on the Waqf bill, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said, "The JPC has extensively conducted detailed discussions with all stakeholders. This (Waqf bill) will bring a lot of transparency and professionalism in the management of Waqf properties... The JPC was conducted in an extremely transparent and democratic manner..."

Notably, the new Income Tax Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha today. The government is keen on detailed consultations on the bill, and it is likely to be sent to a Select Committee for further examination.

The Union Cabinet last week cleared the new Income Tax bill. Sitharaman had earlier indicated that the bill would be sent to a parliamentary committee for scrutiny. "The process is the committee gives its recommendations, it comes back, and then the government, through the Cabinet, takes a call on whether these amendments are to be taken in," she had said.

In the July 2024 Budget, the government proposed a comprehensive review of the Income-tax Act of 1961. The purpose was to make the Act concise and lucid and reduce disputes and litigation.

Sitharaman had said in her budget speech on February 1 that the bill will be soon introduced in Parliament.

"Over the past 10 years, our government has implemented several reforms for the convenience of taxpayers, such as (1) faceless assessment, (2) taxpayers charter, (3) faster returns, (4) almost 99 per cent returns being on self-assessment, and (5) Vivad se Vishwas scheme. Continuing these efforts, I reaffirm the commitment of the tax department to 'trust first, scrutinize later.' I also propose to introduce the new income-tax bill next week," she said in the budget speech. (ANI)