Parliament Monsoon Session Day 12 LIVE: FM Sitharaman to introduce Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill
On Day 12 of Parliament's Monsoon Session, the Finance Minister introduced the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Lok Sabha
The Bill proposes amendments to three separate statutes in a single omnibus legislative vehicle: the Income-tax Act, 2025, the Finance Act, 2026, and the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007
The Lok Sabha's business the same day also included the Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026 — an ordinary bill introduced a day earlier, on Day 11 of the session, and now taken up for further consideration
As a bill dealing with taxation, government borrowing instruments, and the Consolidated Fund, the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill follows the Money Bill route, altering how it is scrutinised and passed compared to an ordinary bill introduced the same week
The Legislative Journey of a Money Bill — Introduction to Passage
Every bill in Parliament passes through a First Reading (introduction), a Second Reading (general discussion and detailed clause-by-clause consideration, ordinarily including committee scrutiny), and a Third Reading (final passage). A Money Bill certified under Article 110 follows a truncated version of this path: it can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha (on the recommendation of the President, per Article 117(1)), and — critically for exam purposes — is exempt from the standard requirement of reference to a Department-Related Standing Committee before passage, unlike most other bills.
Key Details
- Introduction of a bill in the Lok Sabha requires a motion under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha; a Money Bill additionally requires prior Presidential recommendation under Article 117(1)
- The Speaker's certificate under Article 110(3)/Article 109(1), affixed when the Bill is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha and later presented for Presidential assent, is what formally fixes a bill's status as a Money Bill
- Money Bills and Finance Bills are explicitly excluded from mandatory reference to Standing Committees or Joint Committees of Parliament — committee scrutiny of such bills, when it happens, is discretionary rather than a procedural requirement
- Once passed by the Lok Sabha, a Money Bill is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha, which must return it with or without recommendations within 14 days; the Lok Sabha may accept or reject any of the Rajya Sabha's recommendations, and the Bill is deemed passed by both Houses in the form finally accepted by the Lok Sabha
Because this Bill amends tax law, its most likely classification is a Money Bill, meaning it can bypass the committee-reference stage and effectively bypass a substantive Rajya Sabha vote — a sharp procedural contrast with the Bankers' Books Evidence Bill introduced the day before, which, as an ordinary bill amending evidence law rather than fiscal matters, remains eligible for reference to a Department-Related Standing Committee and requires passage by both Houses in identical form.
Parliamentary Sessions and the "Day 12" Sitting Count
Article 85 of the Constitution requires the President to summon Parliament such that no more than six months elapse between the last sitting of one session and the first sitting of the next, ensuring Parliament meets at least twice a year. By convention, India holds three sessions annually — the Budget Session (February–May), the Monsoon Session (July–August), and the Winter Session (November–December) — and each session's sittings are numbered sequentially as "session days" in the Bulletin and List of Business.
Key Details
- Article 85(1) mandates the six-month maximum gap between sessions; it does not fix the number or length of sessions, which is a matter of convention and government discretion
- The Monsoon Session, 2026 ran from 20 July to 13 August 2026; "Day 12" refers to the twelfth sitting day of this session as tracked in the Lok Sabha's daily Bulletin
- Article 85(2) additionally empowers the President to prorogue a House (ending a session without dissolving it) or dissolve the Lok Sabha
- Session-day numbering is distinct from the Bill's own procedural stage — a bill can be introduced, debated, and passed across different numbered sitting days within or across sessions
Tracking which sitting day a bill is introduced on is a routine parliamentary bookkeeping practice that also signals how much of the session's calendar remains for a bill to complete its stages — relevant here since both this taxation Bill and the Bankers' Books Evidence Bill needed to clear the Lok Sabha within the same Monsoon Session window.
Precedent — Omnibus "Taxation Laws (Amendment)" Bills as a Recurring Legislative Vehicle
This is not the first time the government has used an omnibus "Taxation Laws (Amendment)" Bill to convert an Ordinance into permanent law while bundling in other unrelated tax changes. Two earlier instances illustrate the pattern and its stakes.
Key Details
- The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 (promulgated 20 September 2019) cut the corporate tax rate to 22% for existing domestic companies (Section 115BAA) and to 15% for new manufacturing companies (Section 115BAB); it was subsequently enacted as the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019
- The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 withdrew tax demands raised under the 2012 retrospective taxation amendment (the provision enacted after the Supreme Court's ruling in the Vodafone case), providing for refunds to companies including Vodafone and Cairn Energy on withdrawal of pending litigation
- In both precedents, as in the present Bill, the "Taxation Laws (Amendment)" format was used specifically to convert an Ordinance's temporary provisions into a permanent Act — the same Article 123-to-Article 107 pathway followed here for the June 2026 Ordinance on FII taxation
The 2026 Bill follows this established pattern precisely — an Ordinance addressing an urgent fiscal/investment concern (FII taxation on government securities) is being converted into permanent law through an omnibus "Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment)" Bill that simultaneously carries additional, unrelated tax relief measures for electronics manufacturing, fund managers, and digital payments.
- Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026: introduced in the Lok Sabha on Day 12 of the Monsoon Session (4 August 2026)
- Statutes amended by the Bill: Income-tax Act, 2025; Finance Act, 2026; Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007
- Money Bills/Finance Bills are exempt from mandatory reference to Standing or Joint Committees of Parliament
- Rajya Sabha's window to return a Money Bill with recommendations: 14 days (Article 109)
- Monsoon Session, 2026: 20 July – 13 August 2026
- Precedent 1: Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance/Act, 2019 — cut corporate tax to 22%/15% (Sections 115BAA/115BAB)
- Precedent 2: Taxation Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 — withdrew 2012 retrospective tax demands (Vodafone, Cairn cases)
- Bankers' Books Evidence Bill, 2026 (an ordinary bill) was introduced a day earlier, on Day 11 of the same session