The Central government on Tuesday extended the deadline for making payments under the tax dispute settlement scheme, “Vivad se Vishwas”, from December 31 to March 31, 2021, on condition that an individual must apply for it on or before December 31, the finance ministry said.
Those who opt for the scheme after December 31, or those who pay the declared amount after March 31 will have to pay an additional 10% of the amount, said a ministry official, requesting anonymity.
The last date for making declaration under the scheme has been notified as December 31, the ministry said.
The payment without additional amount can be made up to March 31, if the said declarations are made by December 31, it said.
Ajay Bhushan Pandey, finance secretary, on Tuesday told tax officials to advance the scheme with “greater persuasion and perseverance and must reach out to the taxpayers to facilitate all necessary handholding”.
He made the comment while reviewing the progress of the scheme along with PC Mody, chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and other board members.
“This is a scheme for the benefit and convenience of the taxpayers, as they can get instant disposal of the dispute with no further cost of litigation besides monetary benefits in the form of waiver of penalty, interest and prosecution. A taxpayer will be benefitted with stress-free time to put her/his efforts for more meaningful daily routine or expanding business activities. The government will get its long-pending revenue and also save on the huge cost on resources that these disputes consume,” he said.
Mody asked income-tax (I-T) officials to carry out all possible actions such as disposing pending rectifications and appeals and removing duplicate demands to arrive at a final demand for each assessee.
It was also decided to adopt a proactive approach for implementation of the scheme by approaching taxpayers directly, guiding and facilitating them in filing of declarations and removing any difficulties faced by them in availing it, the official mentioned above said.
“It was further decided to have periodic review of the progress of the scheme every fortnight,” he added.
The Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020, was enacted on March 17.
It aims to reduce pending I-T litigations, generate timely revenue for the government and to benefit taxpayers by providing them peace of mind, certainty and savings on account of time and resources that otherwise will be spent on prolonged and vexatious litigation process.
Earlier, the date for filing declaration and making payment without additional amount was extended from March 31 to June 30 in a bid to provide more time to taxpayers to settle disputes.
Later, this date was again extended to December 31 because of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
