The parliamentary standing committee on finance, which submitted its report on the Direct Tax Code Bill to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday, has recommended hiking the tax exemption limit to Rs3 lakhs from the current Rs1.8 lakh (for men, Rs1.9 lakh for women) and raising tax slabs.
It suggested a higher exemption limit for women and senior citizens. “The age for senior citizens should be relaxed from 65 years to 60 years. “It also recommended a significant hike in investments and expenses on which tax deductions could be claimed, and suggested that wealth tax should be paid only for those having Rs5 crores or more, against Rs1 crore in the government’s bill.
To prevent harassment of taxpayers, it advised stern action against income-tax officials if they demand more tax from an individual without proper grounds. The panel suggested that Securities Transaction Tax be abolished. It did not agree with the government proposal in the DTC bill that a person living in India for more than 60 days should lose his/her non-resident Indian status, and recommended that the period of stay for NRIs to retain non-resident status be restored to the existing 182 days.