Mayaram calls meeting to discuss progress on DTC, GST

Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram has called a meeting tomorrow of revenue department officials to assess the progress on the proposed Direct Taxes Code and the Goods and Services Tax.

Billed as the most significant tax reforms, the DTC seeks to replace the Income Tax Act of 1961, while the GST is aimed at overhauling the indirect taxes regime by subsuming various levies.

GST has been hanging fire for long for want of consensus among political parties and state governments.

DTC, on the other hand, was not taken up for passage in Parliament, although the Standing Committee of Finance had given its go ahead to the bill.

Congress has been accusing BJP as well as Gujarat Chief Minister and Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi for stalling GST.

However, the BJP manifesto promises to bring on board all state governments in adopting the GST and also addressing their concerns on loss of revenue.

The manifesto, however, was silent on DTC, but has talked about preparing a Tax Policy Roadmap in order to rationalise and simply the tax regime.

The government in 2011 introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha to pave the way for the GST regime which aims at subsuming most of the indirect taxes at the central as well as the state level.

The Standing Committee on Finance submitted its report on 'The Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2010' in March 2012. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2010.