Centralized Processing Centres for improving tax payer services in two more places.

 

Union Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee has said that the government intends to introduce the Direct Taxes Code in the forthcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament. He was addressing the Central Direct Tax Advisory Committee.

The Finance Minister said that he had identified nine core areas of concern expressed by various stakeholders. He assured that all these concerns have been taken into consideration while redrafting the Code. He revealed that the code will soon be put in the public domain.

The Finance Minister informed the Committee that two more Centralized Processing Centers (CPC) will be set up during the current year. The first one at Bengaluru has enabled faster processing of tax returns and better records management.

Shri Mukherjee further stated that the Refund Banker Scheme will be extended to more cities this year. The scheme enables speedier refunds directly to the bank accounts of the tax payers. The scheme had been introduced in nine more cities last year. It is now available in 15 cities.

The Finance Minister pointed out that several steps have been taken to improve exchange of tax related information and bilateral tax cooperation with several countries. He said that the government has written to 65 countries to make exchange of information more effective and to remove the secrecy clause.

Shri Mukherjee also informed that twenty low or no tax countries have been identified for negotiating and signing tax information exchange agreement.

DSM/BY/KP

Direct Taxes Code introduction to consolidate tax law while expanding processing centres and enhancing international information exchange. Direct Taxes Code will be introduced in the forthcoming parliamentary session to consolidate direct tax law and address nine stakeholder concerns through a publicly released draft. Administrative reforms include establishing two additional Centralized Processing Centres to expedite return processing, expanding the Refund Banker Scheme for electronic refunds, and enhancing international tax information exchange and bilateral agreements with low- or no-tax jurisdictions to improve transparency and compliance.