One of the most favoured duty reimbursement schemes among exporters – the Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme – is likely to be scrapped, as the government gears up to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1. The scheme, which was extended till December 31 in the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014, is widely viewed as one of the best incentive schemes by exporters.

One of the most favoured duty reimbursement schemes among exporters — the Duty Entitlement Passbook (DEPB) scheme — is likely to be scrapped, as the government gears up to introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1. The scheme, which was extended till December 31 in the Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014, is widely viewed as one of the best incentive schemes by exporters.

The government looks all set to introduce the new Direct Taxes Code in the forthcoming budget session , a government official said. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday to discuss the contours of the new code, billed as the major reform of the direct tax structure being undertaken by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in its second tenure.

The government is through with the consultation process on the proposed direct taxes code and the contours of the new tax structure could be finalised soon, a top government official said on Wednesday. The process of consultation is almost complete,” finance secretary Ashok Chawala told reporters on the sidelines of a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry seminar in New Delhi.

GST is just a VAT :-GST as you are aware is just value added tax (VAT) because when made a presentation to the chief minister this was an issue which I was asked – In three years you have somehow setup VAT and now you are talking about GST. I told them GST is VAT but two major more taxes are coming in but every other operation is like VAT.

The Delhi government’s proposal to hike value added tax (VAT) from 4% to 5% is seen running counter to the Centre’s move to introduce the goods and services tax (GST) in a bid to bring about uniformity in the tax structure. The Sheila Dixit-led government’s announcement came after tax collection for last fiscal came in at Rs 11,175 crore, down from Rs 13,000 crore the previous fiscal.

India can surpass China as a global production hub for consumer durables with rationalisation of tax structure and policy support from the government, says a study by industry body Ficci and financial consultancy company PricewaterhouseCoopers. The study suggested tax rebates for high-end technology companies that set up research and development centres in India .

To give effect to the Budget proposals, a Bill (Legislative Assembly Bill No. XIV of 2009) to amend the Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employment Act, 1975 was introduced in the Legislature. The said Bill has been passed by both the houses of the Legislature. The Act is now published in the Maharashtra Government Gazette dated 27th June 2009.

The main attraction of the Direct Taxes Code 2009 will be the simplicity of the provisions, Mr P.V. Bhide, Secretary-Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, said.The level of understating between the assessees and department will be higher, Mr Bhide said at a presentation on the code organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry here recently.

For individuals, the proposed rate is likely to be 10% for income upto 10 lakhs, 20% upto 25 lakhs and 30% above that. Incentive to save is likely to rise to 3 lakhs from the present 1 lakh. Corporate taxes are likely to be revised downward to 25%. Security Transaction tax is likely to be scrapped. Wealth tax is likely to be 0.25% for wealth above 50 crores.