Government non-committal on DTC, says Bill has lapsed

NEW DELHI: The ambitious Direct Taxes Code, which proposed overhaul of the six-decade old Income Tax Act, has lapsed, the government today said without giving any commitment on reviving the same.

"With the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha, the Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2010 has lapsed," Minister of State for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

She was replying to a question on whether the government was committed to implementing the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) beginning with next financial year while reworking the existing draft and developing consensus on it during the current fiscal.

The DTC, which proposed replacing the Income Tax Act of 1961, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 30, 2010.

On Goods and Services Tax (GST), Sitharaman said on July 3 a meeting was held between the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and State Finance Ministers to discuss issues relating to introduction of GST.

"Government seeks to bring on board all state governments in adopting GST, addressing all their concerns," she added.

On its implementation, GST would subsume most of the indirect taxes.

The Minister also said exemption to agricultural income is in accordance with the provision of the Constitution which provides that Central Act cannot levy tax on any such income.