Revised draft of Direct Taxes Code in 1-2 months: CBDT chief

The government today said that the revised draft of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), aimed at simplifying the tax structure, would be released for public debate in one-two months.

"The revised draft will be ready within a month or two," Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman S S N Moorthy said on the sidelines of an Assocham seminar.

In August last year, the government had released the draft DTC, which is being revised on the basis of inputs received from various stakeholders.

The DTC is slated to be introduced in April next year and will ultimately replace the Income Tax Act, 1961, bringing all other direct taxes, including wealth tax, under its purview.

Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had said that if a reasonable level of discussion happens on the code, a bill could be placed in the winter session of Parliament.

However, the industry is not happy with some aspects of the draft DTC, especially the modified provision of the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), the amount that companies are mandatorily required to pay as tax.

The draft suggested 2 per cent MAT on the gross asset value of a company, instead of the current levy of 15 per cent on book profits.

Replying to a query whether the MAT issue will be addressed by the government, Moorthy said, "I won't commit on anything. All I can say is, all the issues raised by the industry and other representatives are under consideration and we are modifying the DTC."

Besides MAT, the revised draft will also address other issues such as tax exemption for the housing sector and taxation of savings.