The Union Budget for the fiscal year 2015-16 was presented by the Finance Minister on 28th February 2015. Apart from abolishing Wealth Tax Act, 1957 and officially warding off Direct Tax Code (‘DTC’), he also deferred the least liked GAAR (General Anti-Avoidance Rules) for two more years. He proposed to implement a roadmap for the reduction of corporate tax rate to 25% over a period of four years and also promised to phase out exemptions to give a fillip to the stagnant tax-base in India. Most of the direct tax proposals in the Finance Bill, 2015 are effective from the financial year commencing on 1 April 2015, unless otherwise specified. Click here to download an analysis of the key Direct Tax Proposals in the Budget