India's Finance Minister announces a new Income Tax Bill to simplify laws, set for Parliament debate in July-August.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the new Income Tax Bill will be discussed in the Parliament's monsoon session in July-August. The bill, half the size of the 1961 act, aims to simplify tax laws and cut down on litigation by reducing the text from 512,535 to 259,676 words. It also reduces sections from 819 to 536 and chapters from 47 to 23, and removes 1,200 provisos and 900 explanations. The bill is currently under review by a Select Committee. Opposition MPs criticized the bill and current tax policies, arguing they burden common citizens and widen the economic divide.