The draft Direct Taxes Code (DTC) along with a Discussion Paper was released on 12 August 2009 for public comments with the intention to simplify direct tax legislation in India. Subsequently, comments were solicited from the public and examined by the Government. A Revised Discussion Paper which is meant to respond to the major concerns and comments of stakeholders has now been released on 15 June 2010.

Revised Discussion Paper on the Direct Taxes Code: The draft Direct Taxes Code (DTC) along with a Discussion Paper was released in August 2009 for public comments. Based on the Feedback, the Revised Discussion Paper has now been released for public comments, before Finalizing the Bill for introduction in Parliament.

EET :EET will not include Government Provident Fund (GPF), PPF, Recognised Provided Funds, Pension Scheme administered by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority as well as approved pure life insurance products and annuity scheme. These will be governed by EEE.

Any profits or gains arising from the transfer of a capital asset is taxable as ‘capital gains’ and is deemed to be the income of the tax payer in the financial year in which the transfer takes place. Similarly, income of every kind, which is not specifically taxed under any of the specified heads of income, like salary, house property, business income etc., and unless specifically exempt, is subject to tax under the head ‘income from other sources’.

Draft Provisions of DTC: DTC proposed to do away with the exemption available in respect of Leave encashment received at the time of retirement (presently Rs 3 lakh in specified cases and fully exempt in case of government employees).

The assessee, a director and shareholder in a company engaged in share trading, returned income of Rs. 78,89,499 earned by her on transfer of shares as a “short-term capital gain”. The AO took the view that as there were voluminous transactions, the assessee was engaged in share trading and the income was assessable as “business income”. This was upheld by the CIT (A). On appeal, HELD dismissing the appeal:

Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2009, could soon set the tone for all our future wealth-creation decisions. If enacted, the bill will not only change the amount of tax you pay, but also transform how you invest, borrow and spend your money. While most tax breaks may be taken away, the process of filing taxes will be simpler.

The proviso to s. 112(1) provides that “where the tax payable in respect of any income arising from the transfer of a long-term capital asset, being listed securities … exceeds ten per cent of the amount of capital gains before giving effect to the provisions of the second proviso to section 48 (i.e. indexation), then, such excess shall be ignored for the purpose of computing the tax payable by the assessee“.

We have heard the learned representatives of the parties and perused the record. The crux of the matter under consideration whether under the facts and circumstances of the case under consideration there is transfer of asset and same is liable to capital gains or loss. The case of the revenue is that the assessee was not the owner of the plot therefore there was no transfer which is liable to capital gains. We may note here that the AO did not dispute the calculation of

Large business entities willing to convert into Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) will have to wait for some more time with the government saying that it would consider raising the limit for capital gains tax exemptions as part of the Direct Taxes Code.