The government, as of November 17, has received Rs 72,480 crore from income-tax payers including public sector firms as settlement proceeds through Vivad se Vishwas tax amnesty scheme. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced this direct tax amnesty scheme while presenting the Union Budget 2020 on Februrary 1.
An official said the amount is expected to go up significantly before the extended deadline of December 31, 2020. He said that in view of the hardship being faced by taxpayers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deadline for filing of declarations under the scheme has been extended to December-end. The official also pointed out that the deadline for payment without paying any interest and penalty has been extended to March 31, 2021.
Under the Vivad se Vishwas tax amnesty scheme, a taxpayer would be required to pay only the amount of the disputed taxes and will get a complete waiver of interest and penalty provided. In search cases, the amount payable is 125 per cent of teh disputed tax compared to 100 per cent in non-search cases. For disputed penalty, interest and fee, the taxpayer would be required to pay only 25 per cent of the same for settling the dispute.
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The official explained that 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. It was decided to adopt a proactive approach for implementation of the scheme by regular monitoring of issue of Form 3 to taxpayers who have filed declarations, completing any pending rectifications, giving appeal effects for finalization of demand, launching an e-campaign to inform taxpayers about the scheme, guiding and facilitating them in filing of declarations and removing any difficulties or problems faced by them in availing the scheme.
