Direct taxes code to be tabled during monsoon session of Parliament

The government proposes to introduce the direct taxes code (DTC) during the coming monsoon session of Parliament, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has said.

The revised draft of the direct taxes code (DTC), which is intended to offer a simplified tax structure, would be available for public comments in the first week of June, he said while addressing the central direct tax advisory committee

Mukherjee said the revised draft has addressed nine core areas of concern identified by various stakeholders and said that it would soon be put in public domain.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the minister said, will put in place two more centralised processing centres (CPCs) during the year, adding that the one at Bengaluru has enabled faster processing of tax returns and better records management.

Also, Mukherjee said, the `Refund Banker Scheme' would be extended to more cities this year to enable speedier refunds directly to bank accounts of tax payers.

The scheme is currently available in 15 cities with the addition of nine cities last year.
    
The finance minister, however, said the implementation of the indirect tax reform `Goods and Services Tax (GST)' might not be easy compared to the reform of the direct taxes code.

Together, the two tax reforms are expected to boost the country's tax-to-GDP ratio to 15 per cent in the next three years from the current level of 11 per cent, the finance minister said.
 
"For DTC, I am the master, you may blame me, you may accuse me, I am to share it. But GST has 28 masters, so I shall have to keep all 28 masters with me," Mukherjee said.
 
While the DTC will replace the age-old Income Tax Act, 1961, GST would replace the plethora of indirect taxes levied by the central and state governments.