Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

16-March-2012 13:29 IST

Government Keen on Early Enactment of DTC Bill

Model Legislation for GST on the Anvil

National Information Utility to be Operational by August

The Union Finance Minister ShriPranab Mukherjee today expressed firm commitment to enact the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Bill at the earliest, after expeditious examination of the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee. The Bill was introduced in Parliament in August 2010, and was to come into force from April 1 this year. However, the timeline could not be adhered to as the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the matter was received only on March 9 this year.

Similarly, Shri Mukherjee said that the Constitution Amendment Bill, a preparatory step in the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced in Parliament last March 2011 and is before the Parliamentary Standing Committee. He said till the recommendations of the Committee were received, drafting of model legislation for Centre and State GST in consultation with different States was going on.

The Finance MinisterShri Mukherjee said that the structure of GST Network (GSTN) has been approved by the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers, GSTN will be set up as a National Information Utility and will become operational by August 2012. The GSTN will implement common PAN-based registration, returns filing and payments processing for all States on a shared platform. The use of PAN as a common identifier in both direct and indirect taxes, will enhance transparency and check tax evasion.

DSM/BK/ska/40

Direct Taxes Code enactment pursued, with GST model legislation drafted and a PAN-based GST network to enhance tax transparency. The government committed to early enactment of the Direct Taxes Code Bill after receipt of the Parliamentary Standing Committee report, while GST implementation preparatory work continues: the Constitution Amendment Bill for GST remains with the Committee and model legislation for Centre and State GST is being drafted. The GST Network will be set up as a National Information Utility to provide PAN based registration, return filing and payments processing on a shared platform to enhance transparency and check tax evasion.