NEW DELHI, 24 February (H.S.) : The finance secretary told the parliamentarians that the ‘Income

Tax Bill’ will simplify the existing Act, enacted over six decades back, and

make it more user-friendly.

The FM 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 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 provisions and explanations. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had

constituted the 31-member Select Committee on February 14. The panel is

mandated to submit its report by the first day of

the Monsoon session. The Budget session will conclude on April 4 and the

Monsoon session may commence in the third week of July.

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. The FM had said the new ‘Income Tax

Bill’ will carry forward the spirit of Nyaya (justice) based on the

concept of trust first, scrutinise later.

Besides, the chairman, BJP’s BJ Panda, other BJP members

who are on the panel 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.

Hindusthan Samachar / Meenakshi Bhattacharya