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Income Tax Act 2025 Gets President’s Assent: Centre Notifies New Rules To Replace 1961 Law

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Income Tax Act 2025 Gets President’s Assent: Centre Notifies New Rules To Replace 1961 Law


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The new Act removes redundant provisions and archaic language and cuts the number of Sections from 819 in the Income Tax Act, 1961, to 536 and the number of chapters from 47 to 23.

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Income Tax Act, 2025.

Income Tax Act, 2025.

The central government on Friday notified the Income Tax Act, 2025, in the Official Gazette. It comes a day after the President gave assent to the Act on Thursday. The Act, which will come into effect from April 1, 2026, consolidates and amends the existing Income Tax Act, 1961.

“The Income-tax Act, 2025 has received the Hon’ble President’s assent on 21st Aug 2025. A landmark reform replacing the 1961 Act, it ushers in a simpler, transparent & compliance-friendly direct tax regime. Access the official document here: https://egazette.gov.in/(S(p0hzyo3qrxli3juyloktgdrv))/ViewPDF.aspx,” Income Tax India said in a post on X on August 22.

The Act was passed by Parliament in the just-concluded monsoon session.

The new Act removes redundant provisions and archaic language and reduces the number of Sections from 819 in the Income Tax Act of 1961 to 536 and the number of chapters from 47 to 23. The number of words had been reduced from 5.12 lakh to 2.6 lakh in the new Income Tax Bill, and for the first time, it introduces 39 new tables and 40 new formulas, replacing the dense text of the 1961 law to enhance clarity.

As the new law will come into force from April 1, 2026, the computer systems of the Income Tax department are required to be rebooted to operationalise the new legislation.

The new Income Tax Bill was drafted within a record time of six months and introduced in the Budget session in February 2025. It was referred to the Select Committee for a comprehensive study of the Bill. Subsequently, in order to incorporate the suggestions made by the Committee, the Bill (No.1) was withdrawn and a fresh Bill (No.2) was introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament.

While presenting the revised Bill in Lok Sabha on August 11, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government had accepted “almost all of the recommendations of the Select Committee”, along with suggestions from stakeholders to ensure the law’s intent is “conveyed more accurately”.

“There are corrections in the nature of drafting, alignment of phrases, consequential changes and cross-referencing. Therefore, a decision has been taken by the government to withdraw the Income Tax Bill, 2025, as reported by the Select Committee. Consequently, Income-tax (No. 2) Bill, 2025, has been prepared to replace the Income-tax Act, 1961,” according to the statement of objects and reasons.

Key Changes Proposed By The Committee

Tax refunds

Removal of the provision that denied income-tax refunds if returns were filed after the due date.

The withdrawn version required taxpayers to file ITRs within the due date to claim a refund (Section 433). The revised Bill ensures refunds can still be claimed even if the ITR is filed late.

Inter-corporate dividends

Restoration of Section 80M deduction (Clause 148) for inter-corporate dividends for companies availing the special tax rate under Section 115BAA.

This provision had been missed in the earlier draft.

Nil TDS certificate

Taxpayers will be allowed to avail of Nil TDS certificates, enabling no tax deduction at source under certain conditions.

Exemption on anonymous donations

Anonymous donations to purely religious trusts will be exempt from tax. The exemption will not apply to trusts that are both religious and engaged in social services such as running hospitals or schools.

Digital-first tax process

The new Bill aims to make the tax process more digital, automated, and faceless, to enhance convenience and minimise the scope for corruption.

Clarification on capital gains tax rumours

Reports last month suggested that the new Bill might change capital gains tax rates. The Income Tax Department denied this in a post on X, stating that the Bill’s objective is language simplification and removal of redundant or obsolete provisions, not altering tax rates.

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Mohammad Haris

Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h…Read More

Haris is Deputy News Editor (Business) at news18.com. He writes on various issues related to personal finance, markets, economy and companies. Having over a decade of experience in financial journalism, Haris h… Read More

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Serial rail fare evader faces jail over 112 unpaid tickets

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Serial rail fare evader faces jail over 112 unpaid tickets


One of Britain’s most prolific rail fare dodgers could face jail after admitting dozens of travel offences.

Charles Brohiri, 29, pleaded guilty to travelling without buying a ticket a total of 112 times over a two-year period, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.

He could be ordered to pay more than £18,000 in unpaid fares and legal costs, the court was told.

He will be sentenced next month.

District Judge Nina Tempia warned Brohiri “could face a custodial sentence because of the number of offences he has committed”.

He pleaded guilty to 76 offences on Thursday.

It came after he was convicted in his absence of 36 charges at a previous hearing.

During Thursday’s hearing, Judge Tempia dismissed a bid by Brohiri’s lawyers to have the 36 convictions overturned.

They had argued the prosecutions were unlawful because they had not been brought by a qualified legal professional.

But Judge Tempia rejected the argument, saying there had been “no abuse of this court’s process”.



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JSW Likely To Launch Jetour T2 SUV In India This Year: Reports

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JSW Likely To Launch Jetour T2 SUV In India This Year: Reports


JSW Jetour T2 Launch: JSW Motors Limited, the passenger vehicle arm of the JSW Group, is reportedly preparing to enter the Indian car market this year. It has partnered with Jetour, a China-based automotive brand owned by Chery Automobile, and the Jetour T2 SUV could be the company’s first product, according to the reports.

Media reports suggest that the launch will happen independently and not under the JSW MG Motor India joint venture. The SUV will wear a JSW badge and name, instead of the Jetour branding. The upcoming SUV will be assembled at JSW’s upcoming greenfield manufacturing facility in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Maharashtra. 

According to the reports, the company plans to have the vehicle on sale by the third quarter of this year. With this move, JSW aims to establish itself as a standalone carmaker in India.

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Expected Powertrain

The SUV is likely to arrive with a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid setup. Internationally, this hybrid powertrain is offered with both front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options. It is still unclear which version will be introduced in India.

Design

In terms of design, the T2 is a large and rugged-looking SUV. It has a boxy and upright stance, similar to vehicles like the Land Rover Defender. Despite its tough appearance, it uses a monocoque chassis instead of a ladder-frame construction. 

Size

The SUV measures around 4.7 metres in length and nearly 2 metres in width. This makes it larger than the Tata Safari, even though it is a five-seater. A longer 7-seat version is also sold in some markets.

Price

Pricing details for India are yet to be announced. For reference, the front-wheel-drive five-seat T2 i-DM is priced at AED 1,44,000 (around Rs 35 lakh) in the UAE.

Jetour

Jetour is a brand owned by Chinese automaker Chery. Launched in 2018, it focuses mainly on SUVs and is present in markets across China, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.



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John Swinney under fire over ‘smallest tax cut in history’ after Scottish Budget

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John Swinney under fire over ‘smallest tax cut in history’ after Scottish Budget



John Swinney has been pressed over whether this week’s Scottish Budget gives some workers the “smallest tax cut in history” – with Tory leader Russell Findlay branding the reduction “miserly” and “insulting”.

The Scottish Conservative leader challenged the First Minister after Tuesday’s Holyrood Budget effectively cut taxes for lower earners, by increasing the threshold for the basic and intermediate bands of income tax.

But Mr Findlay said that would leave workers at most £31.75 a year better off – saying this amounts to a saving of just £61p a week

“That wouldn’t even buy you a bag of peanuts,” the Scottish Tory leader said.

“John Swinney’s Budget might even have broken a world record, because a Scottish Government tax adviser says it ‘maybe the smallest tax cut in history’.”

Raising the “miserly cut” at First Minister’s Questions in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Findlay demanded to know if the SNP leader believed his “insulting tax cut will actually help Scotland’s struggling households”.

The attack came as the Tory accused the SNP government of increasing taxes on higher earners, with its freeze on higher income tax thresholds, which will pull more Scots into these brackets.

This is needed to pay for the “SNP’s out of control, unaffordable benefits bill”, the Conservative added.

Mr Findlay said: “The Scottish Conservatives will not back and cannot back a Budget that does nothing to help Scotland’s workers and businesses.

“It hammers people with higher taxes to fund a bloated benefits system.”

Hitting out at Labour – whose leader Anas Sarwar has already declared they will not block the government’s Budget – Mr Findlay said: “It is absolutely mind-blowing that Labour and other so-called opposition parties will let this SNP boorach of a budget pass.

“Don’t the people of Scotland deserve lower taxes, fairer benefits and a government focused on economic growth?”

Mr Swinney said the Budget “delivers on the priorities of the people of Scotland” by “strengthening our National Health Service and supporting people and businesses with the challenges of the cost of living”.

He insisted income tax decisions in the Budget would mean that in 2026-27 “55% of Scottish taxpayers are now expected to pay less income tax than if they lived in England”.

The First Minister went on to say that showed “the people of Scotland have a Government that is on their side”.

Referring to polls putting his party on course to win the Holyrood elections in May, the SNP leader added that “all the current indications show the people of Scotland want to have this Government here for the long term”.

Benefits funding is “keeping children out of poverty”, he told MSPs, adding the Budget contained a “range of measures” that would build on existing support.

The First Minister said: “What that is a demonstration of is a Government that is on the side of the people of Scotland and I am proud of the measures we set out in the Budget on Tuesday.”

Meanwhile he said the Tories wanted to make tax cuts that would cost £1 billion, with “not a scrap of detail about how that would be delivered”.

With the weekly leaders’ question time clash coming less than 48 hours after the draft 2026-27 Budget was unveiled, the First Minister also faced questions from Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar, who insisted that the proposals “lacks ambition for Scotland”.

Pressing his SNP rival, the Scottish Labour leader said: “While he brags about his £6 a year tax cut for the lowest paid, one million Scots including nurses, teachers and police officers face being forced to pay more.

“Even his own tax adviser says this is a political stunt. So why does John Swinney believe that someone earning £33,500 has the broadest shoulders and therefore should pay more tax in Scotland?”

Mr Swinney, however, said that many public sector workers would be better off in Scotland.

He told the Scottish Labour leader: “A band six nurse at the bottom of the scale will take home an additional £1,994 after tax compared to the same band in England.

“A qualified teacher at the bottom of the band will take home £6,365 more after tax in Scotland than the equivalent in England. There are the facts for Mr Sarwar.”



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