The implementation of the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) has been deferred and the country’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that he will take steps to bring in the codes soon.

The Finance Minister has said that the current tax code should be changed to align with the proposed DTC. The minister is looking at the introduction of the General Anti Avoidance Rules, taxation of offshore transfers and introduction of advance pricing agreements.

The ministry did not announce any certain timeframe for the introduction of the new GST regime even as several steps have been taken to alter existing taxes and processes to prepare the system for a smooth transition.

The ministry has included all services except a limited list and both the service tax and excise duty rates have been raised by 2 percent. On personal tax, a general category of individual taxpayers has been introduced in the budget and the system of different slabs for men and women has bee removed as provided under the DTC.

The tax rates for corporate, partnership firms, local authorities and co-operative societies have not been changed under the budget. The dividend distribution tax rules have been changed to do away with the cascading effect of taxes in multi tier corporate structures.