Response to Sabka Vishwas Amnesty Scheme Encouraging

Initial trends suggest success of the amnesty scheme for legacy cases pertaining to excise and service taxes. As many as 375 applications have been filed under Sabka Vishwas Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2019 that kicked in this month.

Official sources said that most applications are related to litigation, followed by arrears and investigation.

"Chennai zone has so far received maximum number of applications under the amnesty scheme," said an official.

The Sabka Vishwas Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2019 announced in the Budget seeks to unlock over Rs 3.75 lakh crore involved in pending cases related to excise duty and service tax. The resolution-cum-amnesty scheme offers relief varying from 40 per cent to 70 per cent of the tax dues for cases other than voluntary disclosure cases, depending on the amount of tax dues involved.

The indirect tax authorities expect nearly 50 per cent of the litigants to opt for the scheme. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has asked field officers to partner with trade and industry to make the lucrative scheme a grand success.

The Sabka Vishwas scheme which was operationalised on September 1, 2019 would remain open till the year-end.

Dispute resolution and amnesty are the two components of this scheme. While the dispute resolution component is aimed at liquidating the legacy cases locked up in litigation at various forums, the amnesty component gives an opportunity to those who have failed to correctly discharge their tax liability to pay the tax dues.

For all the cases pending in adjudication or appeal, the scheme offers a relief of 70 per cent from the duty demand if it is Rs 50 lakh or less and 50 per cent if it is more than Rs 50 lakh.

The same relief is available for cases under investigation and audit where the duty involved is quantified and communicated to the party or admitted by him in a statement on or before June 30, 2019.

"The Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 has the potential to liquidate the huge outstanding litigation and free the taxpayers from the burden of litigation and investigation under the legacy taxes, "the CBIC recently wrote to its field officers.
 

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