Govt may scale down tax relief proposed in DTC draft

   NEW DELHI: People with more than Rs 10 lakh annual income may not get the tax relief originally proposed in the Direct Taxes Code, as the Finance Ministry is for tweaking slabs across the board to offset
concessions elsewhere.

   Under the first draft of DTC -- which when implemented will  replace the archaic Income Tax Act, 1961 -- income of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 25  lakhs was to attract tax at the rate of 20 per cent, but the final draft
expected by June 15 may propose slapping 30 per cent tax on any income above  Rs 10 lakh per annum, according to sources.

   This is to make up for the possible concessions the ministry may extend in other areas like exempting long term savings from tax at the time of withdrawal and the way Minimum Alternate Tax is calculated, sources said.

   As such, the relief on highest tax slab would not be much, since under the present regime too, 30 per cent tax is imposed on income of more than Rs eight lakh a year.

   Sources said the ministry is reworking the August 2009 draft following feedback from stakeholders. Under this, the 10 per cent tax proposed on income up to Rs 10 lakh may now stand scaled down to Rs five lakhs a year.

   And income of Rs five-10 lakh a year would attract 20 per cent tax, although the first draft proposed slapping this rate on Rs 10-25 lakh income.

SOURCE - ECONOMIC TIMES