Finance ministry on Thursday ruled out any profit-linked tax benefit to special economic zones (SEZs) under the proposed Direct Taxes Code (DTC), aimed at reforming tax structure in the country. “There will be no profit-linked deductions for special economic zones under Direct Taxes Code. But SEZ developers and units may still get investment-linked tax deductions,” revenue secretary Sunil Mitra said in an interview.

Under the direct taxes code (DTC) regime, what happens if a salaried employee withdraws money from his/her approved Provident Fund (PF)/Superannuation fund (SF) /Gratuity and other retrial benefit schemes? How will the DTC affect pension plans?

Revised discussion paper on the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) has suggested that donations be made taxable in the hands of the donor. At present, 50 per cent deduction is allowed on the donations made to religious institutions. So, if you donate Rs 1,001 to, say Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, you can claim a deduction of Rs 500 from your income. The first draft of DTC had proposed this deduction be available only if the funds are used for renovation or repair of a religious body.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday said the government will take a view on new tax slabs after receiving inputs from different stakeholders on the revised draft of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC).

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today rejected criticism of the revised draft Direct Taxes Code over the proposal to restore exemptions in income tax, saying the tax rates are indicative and not final. Changes (made in the revised draft Code) cannot be presumed as “progressive or regressive”, he told PTI in an interview making it clear that final tax rates are the prerogative of Parliament to decide.

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 New Pension Scheme (NPS) for the unorganised sector got a much-needed fillip with the revised discussion paper on the Direct Taxes Code proposing that the end proceeds under this scheme be exempt from tax. Under the existing tax structure, the maturity proceeds under the NPS are taxed. That is, an EET (exempt-exempt-tax) method is followed. This put the scheme at a disadvantage vis-a-vis other savings instruments where the exempt-exempt-exempt (EEE) method was followed.

The introduction of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which will replace the 50-year-old Income Tax Act, will make Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) liable to pay capital gains tax on their income from securities trade. All the FIIs will be subject to the capital gains tax after implementation of the Direct Taxes Code.

The revised DTC proposed to continue with the exempt-exempt-exempt (EEE) regime for Government Provident Fund (GPF), Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Recognised Provident Funds (RPFs) and the pension scheme administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. In addition, approved pure life insurance products and annuity schemes would also get the same tax treatment.

Revised discussion paper on direct taxes code clarified that the domestic code would not override the double taxation avoidance agreements.This could come as a huge relief as majority of the FIIs operating in India are registered in tax havens. The discussion paper also removed the ambiguity on income classification for tax computation.