It all depends not on finance minister Pranab Mukherjee but on the health of 74-year-old former finance minister Yashwant Sinha of the Bhartiya Janata Party who underwent a pace-maker surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences last Tuesday.

Mukherjee is keen to incorporate the direct tax code (DTC), replacing the income tax Act in his budget on March 16 so that it can be implemented from April 1.  But the bill he tabled in the Lok Sabha last August is now pending before the parliamentary standing committee headed by Sinha.

Sources say Sinha has promised Mukherjee to finalise the committee report by March 2 to enable him to roll out the new regime modernising the tax laws in the country, but it all depends on his health. He is recuperating in AIIMS and it is not certain if he will be able to attend the next meeting slated on February 17. Two other meetings are slated on February 24 and March 2.

In its draft report circulated to the member MPs, Sinha has suggested that the income tax exemption limit be raised from Rs 2 lakhs per annum to Rs 3 lakhs in the Income Tax Act, as proposed in DTC Bill in the Union Budget, pending passage of the bill by Parliament.

Since Parliament is meeting only from March 12 and the DTC Bill can not be passed quickly for incorporation in the budget speech, the draft report suggests incorporation of some its salient features in the Income Tax Act to pave way for the total switchover from the next financial year.