A revised draft of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) is to be put in the public domain yet again. With the initial draft having attracted sharp criticism on various proposals impacting not only corporates but also long-term saving schemes, the Finance Ministry on Monday said the revised draft would be out within a month to satisfy the concerns of all stakeholders.
In his inaugural address at the two-day annual conference of chief commissioners and directors general of income-tax here, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: “The revised draft on the Direct Taxes Code will be put in the public domain shortly...I am confident that it will take care of all the concerns expressed by various stakeholders.”
Setting a time limit, Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman S. S. N. Moorthy told reporters later that the revised version would be made public within a month.
Aimed at replacing the age-old Income-tax Act, the government is in the process of simplifying the tax regulations. With this objective, the Finance Ministry had put the first draft in public domain. In particular, the proposals that evoked sharp views pertained to tax on long-term savings at the time of withdrawal, the minimum alternate tax (MAT) on the basis of gross assets as against profits at present and the issue of tax rebates for home loans.
Detailing the steps towards enactment, Mr. Mukherjee said that a new DTC draft was under revision, taking into consideration the areas of concern expressed by various stakeholders and the DTC Bill would be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament. “It will indeed be a legislation for the 21st century that will witness the emergence of an economically strong and vibrant India,” he said In view of the radical changes that the DTC is expected to usher in when implemented, the Finance Minister directed the Income-tax Department to chart out a road map for meeting the challenges and the changes that will be introduced in the new legislation. With the economy projected to grow by 8.5 per cent during the current fiscal, Mr. Mukherjee directed his taxmen not only to monitor fast-growing sectors to check tax evasion but also concentrate at the smaller towns and cities that have become growth centres following the government's inclusive agenda so as to widen the tax base.
In this regard, he asked the IT officials to make efforts to garner a ‘little' extra than the targeted Rs.4.30 lakh crore in 2010-11. “My appetite is infinite and my greed is more,'' he said. He, however, made it clear that he was not upping the target for direct tax collections this fiscal, as was done last fiscal. “We have deliberately called this conference in the beginning of the financial year to deliberate strategies and draw action plan to achieve this target,” he said.
Mr. Mukherjee also announced operationalisation of the Rs.100-crore income-tax welfare fund, pending since 1998. “The fund has a corpus of Rs.100 crore kept in interest-bearing deposit. The interest earned annually on this deposit, and other annual accruals to the fund, would be available for welfare activities of IT department employees,'' he said.