New Delhi, Aug 30 (PTI) The proposed Direct Taxes Code (DTC), which will replace the archaic Income Tax Act, is bulkier than the existing law, as the new legislation also seeks to substitute the current Wealth Tax Act.

While the proposed DTC has 319 sections and 22 schedules, there are 298 sections and 14 schedules in the existing act.

The Wealth Tax Act, 1957, itself has 47 sections and three schedules.

As per the bill placed in the Lok Sabha by Finance Minister Pranab Mukhejee, the DTC, which will replace the Income Tax Act 1961, has 20 chapters divided into nine parts.

Various parts of the DTC deal with a plethora of subjects, including income tax, dividend distribution tax, tax on distributed income, branch profit tax, wealth tax, prevention of abuse of the code, tax management, general provisions and interpretation of the code.

The Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2010

Direct Taxes Code Bill consolidates income and wealth taxation, setting residence, computation, incentives, anti avoidance and procedural regimes. The Direct Taxes Code, 2010 consolidates and replaces the Income-tax Act and Wealth Tax Act into a single statute of 319 sections and 22 schedules, setting out the basis of charge, residence and deemed accrual/receipt rules, classification and computation of income under specified heads, aggregation and loss continuity rules, industry and transaction specific schedules, a wide range of tax incentives and deductions, detailed tax administration, assessment, appeals, recovery, penalties and prosecutorial provisions, anti avoidance measures, advance rulings and dispute resolution, and confers rule making and notification powers on the Central Government and the Board.