Does the revised tax code benefit the individual taxpayer?

A revised discussion paper on the Direct Taxes Code, released by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Tuesday, dropped many controversial proposals of the original draft code to help individuals and companies save on their tax outgo. These include levying minimum alternate tax (MAT) on gross assets and taxing savings schemes such as the public provident fund at the time of maturity. Companies will pay MAT on book profits. The slabs proposed in the draft code were only illustrative. The code has addressed 11 issues, including MAT, tax treatment of savings, taxation of house property, tax treatment of capital gains, status of double taxation agreements and general anti-avoidance rules.

CBDT has also sought to end the uncertainty over tax treatment of FIIs. The income of FIIs that buy and sell shares will be treated as capital gains and not business income, which could increase their tax liability. Going by the revised code, individuals will enjoy tax exemptions in select, but fewer, savings schemes. These include the public provident fund, pension schemes, including the government’s new pension scheme, general provident funds, recognized provident funds, pure life insurance and annuity schemes. These schemes will not be taxed at any stage. The move will give a boost to the new pension scheme, which has not found many takers so far.

So users, do you think the revised tax code benefit the individual taxpayer?