The Centre on Monday ruled out any further change in the scheduled implementation of Direct Taxes Code (DTC) from April 1, 2012 and said suggestions on the related bill, pending with a Parliamentary panel, could still be given.
“It will be implemented on April 1, 2012. There is no change in that...,” Union Minister of State for Finance S. Palanimanickam told reporters. He said the Bill was currently discussed at various levels.
Parliamentary standing committee would give its report and the Government would take a decision on the implementation, Mr. Palanimanickam said.
Earlier, at a seminar on DTC, organised by All India Tax Payers’ Association and Periyar Maniammai University, he appealed to the participants to make suggestions for modifications to the proposals.
“There is still time for you to express any issues on the Code.” he said, adding that any modifications on the DTC could also be sought.
After criticism by various quarters, the Government had dropped its earlier proposals on taxing long-term savings like provident funds and imposing minimum alternate tax (MAT) on gross assets of companies.
In August, the Government decided to delay the implementation of DTC by a year from April 1, 2012. Earlier, DTC was supposed to be implemented from April 1, 2011.
The Government would lose about Rs 53,000 crore in tax revenue on account of the increase in exemption limits and tweaking of slabs in the Direct Taxes Code Bill.
Income Tax Chief Commissioner (I and CCA region) Prema Malini Vasan said through this move any body can understand on the terms used in the DTC. “Earlier, if a lawyer needs to know about the DTC, then he should either learn Chartered Accountancy or approach a CA. But by making modifications, even a common man can understand it...,” she said.
The delayed implementation of the DTC, which is a replacement of Income Tax Act 1961 would give corporates and individuals enough time to set themselves on the right foot for the switchover.
As per the Bill, income of Rs 2-5 lakh would be taxed at 10 per cent; Rs 5-10 lakh at 20 per cent and above Rs 10 lakh at 30 per cent.
