Finance Minister tables Income Tax Bill 2025 in Parliament today; sections, tax year and other key things to know

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has tabled new Income Tax Bill 2025 on Thursday, February 13. The Bill aims to simplify the language of the existing law as amended to date. Sitharaman had announced the I-T bill during her Budget speech on February 1 and was approved by the Cabinet on February 7.

According to a post on X by Income Tax India, "The New Income-tax Bill, 2025 has been tabled in Parliament."

The New Income-tax Bill, 2025 has been tabled in Parliament.

The Bill aims to simplify the language of the existing law as amended to date.

The Bill is available at our website https://t.co/z0wOo162Xq

Our FAQs address common queries regarding the objectives and the outcome of… pic.twitter.com/txfke5wKo8

— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) February 13, 2025

The legislation will replace the Income Tax Act, 1961, which has grown extensively due to numerous modifications carried out over six decades.  The new law is expected to take effect on April 1, 2026.

Here are key things to know:

• The original Income Tax Act 1961 which came into effect in 1962 had only 298 sections. As time went, more sections were added and there were 819 sections today and now these sections have been reduced to 536.
• The new I-T bill contains 2.6 lakh words from the previous 5.12 lakh words.
• The number of chapters has been reduced to 23 from 47.
• 23 chapters have been divided into 536 sections and 16 schedules, over 600 pages.
• The concept of ‘tax year’ has been introduced replacing ‘previous year’ and
• ‘assessment year’. 
• Section-wise mapping will be made available on the official website of the Income Tax Department.
• TDS and TCS provisions have been made easier to comprehend by providing tables. 
• The Income Tax Bill 2025 also contains all amendments proposed in Finance Bill 2025.