A day after the Income Tax Bill (2) 2025 — meant to replace the Income Tax Act, 1961 — was dramatically passed by the Lok Sabha without any debate, in just three minutes of voting, there is still little clarity on the details.

What’s in the fine print? Not many know.

This is because the revised Bill was introduced barely two hours before it was put to the vote in the Lok Sabha on Monday, 11 August. There was no clause-by-clause debate on the revised Bill; the short two-hour time allowed little room for MPs to move any amendments.

The MPs belonging to the Opposition were in any case absent, having declared their plan to march to the Election Commission of India to protest against allegations of voter list fraud this same day. However, even MPs belonging to the ruling NDA alliance were given no time to read and compare the revised Bill with the old one — which was withdrawn on 9 August, Saturday — and propose amendments.

This has not come as a surprise, though. Parliament has got used to passing budgetary demands as well as important legislation without any discussion over the past several years.

The Income Tax Bill was first introduced in February in the Lok Sabha, ostensibly with the aim to simplify the existing Income Tax Act, which was deemed to be complicated with over 800 sections. The revised Bill submitted on Monday is expected to have incorporated the recommendations made by the parliamentary standing committee and has reportedly brought down the number of sections to 500-odd.