The direct tax code is likely to be tabled before Parliament by the end of the monsoon session. Admitting that present income tax laws were complicated, finance minister P Chidambaram on Friday told the Rajya Sabha, We are in the last leg of drafting the new income tax code. I shall be able to introduce it in Parliament by the end of the monsoon session. It was earlier expected to be introduced in the budget session of the Parliament.

The Direct Tax Code is expected to replace the current Income Tax Act, 1961. While the current Income Tax Act is very comprehensive, a need was felt to review the Act due to economic changes post liberalization that have affected the countrys tax structure in a big way. It is likely to review tax slabs and tax exemptions as well as clauses of international taxation.