Nirmala Sitharaman withdraws Income Tax Bill in Lok Sabha; new Bill to be introduced on Aug 11
New Delhi (PTI): Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday withdrew the Income Tax Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha, and the government will come out with an updated version of the legislation after incorporating changes suggested by the Select Committee.
A new version of the Income Tax Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 11.
The updated version of the I-T Bill, according to sources, will incorporate most of the recommendations of the Select Committee.
"To avoid confusion by multiple versions of the Bill and to provide a clear and updated version with all changes incorporated, the new version of the Income Tax Bill will be introduced for the consideration of the House on Monday," sources said.
The Select Committee, chaired by Baijayant Panda, had suggested a host of changes in the Income Tax Bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 13.
Soon after its introduction in the Lower House, the Bill, which will replace the six-decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961, was referred to the Select Committee for scrutiny.
The 31-member Select Committee had made some suggestions on the Bill.
They also favoured continuing tax exemption on anonymous donations made to religious-cum-charitable trusts in the new law, besides suggesting that taxpayers be allowed to claim TDS refund even after the ITR filing due date without paying any penal charges.
The government in the new Bill has exempted non-profit organisations (NPOs) from taxing anonymous donations received by purely religious trusts. However, such donations received by a religious trust that may also have other charitable functions, like running hospitals and educational institutions, will be taxed as per law, as per the Bill.
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Pak court grants bail to PM Shehbaz's daughter and her husband in graft case
Lahore (PTI): A Pakistani court on Tuesday granted bail to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's daughter Rabia Imran and her husband Imran Yousaf in a mega corruption and money laundering case.
Judge Ashfaq Ahmed allowed the bail petitions of the couple and restrained the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting them till May 7.
"The special court (central) Lahore granted interim pre-arrest bail to PM Shehbaz's daughter, Rabia Imran and her husband Imran Yousaf till May 7 in a mega corruption and money laundering case as the couple personally appeared before the court along with their counsel after arriving from the UK, where they had gone in 2022 to evade arrest," a court official said.
Last week, an accountability court had suspended the perpetual arrest warrants issued against the couple in the multi-billion corruption case, related to the Punjab Saaf Pani Company case.
The accountability court had issued perpetual warrants for their arrest in 2022 during the tenure of the Imran Khan government.
The PM's daughter and her husband had fled to the UK in 2022, and the court subsequently had declared them proclaimed offenders.
Interestingly, the country's anti-graft body -- National Accountability Bureau (NAB) -- that had instituted the multi-billion corruption case against the couple told the accountability court that it has no objection if the court suspends their warrants.
PM Shehbaz was also nominated in this corruption case but has been acquitted because of a lack of evidence.
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has consistently alleged that the acquittal of PM Shehbaz and other ruling coalition members in various mega corruption cases is the result of a "compromised judiciary" and a "NAB-PMLN nexus" (referring to a perceived alliance between the NAB and the military-backed government).
His party has claimed these acquittals represent the "demise of justice" and has accused the judiciary of acting as a "silent accomplice" to state-backed political terrorism.
Khan was ousted from power in April 2022 through a no-confidence motion. Subsequently, he was arrested in August 2023 and has been in jail in multiple cases since then.
