The Direct Tax Code Bill would be reintroduced before Parliament in the 26-day Monsoon session beginning Monday. This was stated by Parthasarathi Shome, Adviser to the Finance Minister, here on Saturday at a function organised by Association of Corporate Advisers & Executives.

The Bill has incorporated certain amendments taking cognizance of the Parliamentary Standing Committee’s suggestions. Moreover, some of the recommendations of the Government-formed expert committee on GAAR are also expected to reflect in the amended version of the Bill that attempts to redefine principles of taxation since introduction of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Shome said preparation for piloting of the Bill was progressing at a fast pace. The Bill may come up for discussion in the second half of this month. The session is scheduled to conclude on August 30.

On the issue of GAAR, Shome said the deferred implementation of the earlier proposed provisions till 2016 gave sufficient time for review. He said some of the vexed issues included transfer pricing, thin capital rules and retrospective effect of taxation. For revenue authorities, companies with high leverage raised concern over excessive deductions on interest expenditure.

Shome said the Union Ministry of Finance-constituted industry-Government deliberation Forum, chaired by him, will have its first meeting on August 7. This weekly discussion mechanisms have been established for exchange of views between industry groups and Government on tax related issues or tax related disputes.

>jayanta.mallick@thehindu.co.in

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