Vivad Se Vishwas scheme: Govt extends last date for making payments by 3 months

The Finance Ministry has extended the last date for making payments under the 'Vivad Se Vishwas' direct tax dispute resolution scheme without paying an additional amount by three more months. The last date for making a declaration under the scheme has also been extended twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic, from March 31 to December 31, writes ETV Bharat Deputy News Editor Krishnanand Tripathi.

New Delhi:The Finance Ministry Tuesday extended the last date for making payments under the 'Vivad Se Vishwas' direct tax dispute resolution scheme without paying an additional amount by three more months, from December to March end next year.

The government also notified December 31 as the last date for making declaration under the scheme, however, a taxpayer only needs to make a declaration and with respect to these declarations the taxpayer will have time till March 31, 2020 to pay the due amount without any additional component.

A notification to this effect has been issued by the department of revenue on Tuesday.

In order to reduce the litigation and pendency of tax disputes at various forums, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the scheme in this year’s budget with March 31 as the last date for making declarations under the scheme.

However, due to the outbreak of Covid-19 global pandemic, the government extended the last date for making payments, without the payment of additional amount, from March 31 to June end. The date was again extended to December end, which has now been extended by another three months to March 31, 2021.

Reaching out to taxpayers

Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, who holds the dual portfolio of revenue and finance, Tuesday reviewed the progress of the scheme in a high-level meeting with income tax officers.

“We need to advance the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme and must reach out to the taxpayers,” Pandey told tax officials.

According to officials, a proactive approach will be followed under which officers would directly reach out to taxpayers and help them in making declarations under the scheme.

Highlighting the benefits of the scheme, Pandey told the tax officers that the scheme would benefit taxpayers as they would 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 would benefit with stress-free time and the government would get its long pending revenue and would also save on resources that these disputes consume,” Pandey said.

CBDT Chairman PC Mody asked senior tax officials at the level of Principal Commissioners of Income Tax to timely dispose pending rectifications, giving effects to pending appeals, remove duplicate demands so that a taxpayer knows the final demand.

Under the scheme, these officers are authorised to issue Form 3 against the Form 1 or Form 2 filed by a taxpayer.