Rs 1.32 lakh crore tax garnered by government scheme

More than 48,600 income-tax payers, together with public sector companies have opted for the federal government’s tax amnesty scheme ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ involving a mixed settlement quantity of over ₹1.32 lakh crore, a finance ministry official mentioned.

As on November 17, the federal government has already acquired ₹72,480 crore from these entities as settlement proceeds, and the quantity is anticipated to go up considerably earlier than the prolonged deadline of December 31, 2020, the official mentioned requesting anonymity.

In the Union price range offered on February 1, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had introduced the scheme that aimed to resolve legacy disputes involving direct taxes. Under the scheme, penalty and curiosity can be waived if the disputed quantity is paid earlier than March 31, 2020. Later the deadline was prolonged. More than 483,000 legacy disputes are caught in numerous tribunals involving direct taxes price ₹9.32 lakh crore.

“In view of hardship being faced by taxpayers due to the pandemic situation of Covid-19, the deadline for filing of declarations under the scheme has been extended to December 31, 2020 and the deadline for payment without paying any interest and penalty has been extended to March 31, 2021,” the official mentioned.

Once the entities go for the scheme and make the declaration, all appeals—each by taxpayer and by division—are withdrawn, he mentioned. The finance ministry reviewed the scheme’s progress and determined to recurrently monitor the instances the place taxpayers have filed declarations, the official mentioned.

The amnesty scheme was launched for taxpayers on March 17, 2020 after approval of the Parliament to scale back litigation, he mentioned. The scheme supplies for settlement of disputed tax, curiosity, penalty or charges in relation to an evaluation or reassessment order on fee of 100% of the disputed tax and 25% of the disputed penalty or curiosity or charge.

“The taxpayer is granted immunity from levy of interest, penalty and institution of any proceeding for prosecution for any offence under the Income-Tax Act in respect of matters covered in the declaration,” the official mentioned.