DTC Bill introduced - No Excitement - Effective only from 2012
Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.IT was a historic moment in Parliament. Amidst disturbances in the Lok Sabha, the Finance Minister Pranab Da intervened and said, “ Today we have spent enough time on non-issues. Limited time is now left, and it is three o'clock. There are certain other issues. Please transact some business because the House has been extended to transact certain essential Government Business. My respectful submission to all the Members would be that let the normal business be carried on” ... and the Speaker said , “Shri Pranab Mukherjee to introduce the Bill”. The FM said, “ Sir, I beg to move for leave to introduce a Bill to consolidate and amend the law relating to direct taxes.” The leave was granted and the FM said , “Sir, I introduce the Bill”
So finally the Bill is before the Lok Sabha – now they can take all the time they want, for the Bill is to come into force only from 1 st April 2012, maybe along with GST!- maybe to provide enough time for the tax analysts of the country to dissect every comma in the Code!
We will lose 50 Thousand Crores – RS:
Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra said that because of the new DTC, he would lose Rs. 53,172 Crores (very accurate figures – thank god, his officers didn't give figures to the last paisa.) in 2012-13.
No more Gender Discrimination – women to be axed on par with men
: The special Income Tax exemption enjoyed by women will now be a thing of the past – they will have to pay taxes as the men do. This hardly makes any difference to the women or their men, but will be good copy for women movement, magazines and for women's organisations to shout hoarse. TV channels can have a few discussions and finally the FM may concede the status quo .
Wealth Tax to Stay and with reduced limits
: The previous DTC had proposed an exemption from wealth tax up to a net wealth of Rs. 50 Crores and with a tax of 0.25 percent on the wealth above Rs. 50 Crores. These limits are drastically reduced. Now the exemption limit is Rs. 1 Crore and the tax above that is 1 percent. How much money is the government going to earn by this small tax? Why can't they just do away with this nuisance tax?
No appeal by or against PSU to Tribunal – No need of COS
: At present a PSU or the Department (against PSU) can appeal to the Tribunal only after getting clearance from the Committee of Secretaries. This will no more be necessary as under the new DTC, PSU or the Department cannot appeal to Tribunal. The appeal lies to the Dispute Resolution Panel.
Only High Court CJ to be President of ITAT
: The DTC stipulates that the President of the ITAT should be a sitting or former Chief Justice of a High Court. Currently the post of ITAT President is vacant – government should consider following this policy even before the Code is enacted.