I-T department allows revision of declarations filed under ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme

Entities submitting declarations under the direct tax dispute decision scheme ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ can revise them until the time tax authorities challenge certificates mentioning particulars of tax arrears and the quantity payable, the Income Tax Department has mentioned.

Issuing a set of FAQs on ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) additionally mentioned the scheme can’t be availed in a case the place proceedings are pending earlier than the Income Tax Settlement Commission (ITSC) or the place writ has been filed in opposition to the order of ITSC.

The CBDT additionally clarified that in a case the place Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) decision is pending or the assessee has not accepted MAP resolution, the associated enchantment shall be eligible under ‘Vivad se Vishwas’

“In such a case, the declarant will be required to withdraw both the MAP application and appeal,” it added.

The I-T department additionally clarified {that a} taxpayer can be eligible for making declarations in instances the place the Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has dominated in favour of the taxpayer and the department has filed an enchantment earlier than the High Court/Supreme Court and the overall revenue of the taxpayer was quantified earlier than AAR.

“Yes, the taxpayer is eligible since the income is quantifiable. In such case, since the issue is covered in favour of taxpayer, only 50% of the disputed tax is payable,” the CBDT mentioned.

The authorities had in October prolonged for the third time the deadline for making fee under the direct tax dispute settlement scheme ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ by three months to March 31, 2021, in view of the continued COVID-19 pandemic. However, declarations should be filed by December 31, 2020.

Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, Partner, Nangia Andersen LLP, mentioned the supply of revision would allow the taxpayer to revise the appliance filed in case the matter is revisited on account of any errors or factual clarifications.

“The authorities are ensuring that the scheme is utilised by the maximum number of taxpayers and as the scheme is new, this provision enabling revision before the certificate is issued would equip the applicant to revise the application in case any errors are discovered or any clarification is subsequently obtained from the authorities itself,” he mentioned.

Disputed calls for

Till November 17, the federal government had garnered ₹72,480 crore tax by way of the scheme.

A complete of 45,855 declarations had been filed under the scheme, involving disputed tax demand of ₹31,734 crore until November 17 .

Besides, central public sector corporations are additionally settling their dispute totalling ₹1 lakh crore under the scheme.

The scheme gives for settlement of disputed tax, disputed curiosity, disputed penalty or disputed 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 curiosity, penalty and establishment of any continuing for prosecution for any offence under the Income Tax Act in respect of issues coated within the declaration.

The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 was enacted on March 17, 2020 to settle direct tax disputes locked up in varied appellate fora.

In order to offer extra time to taxpayers to settle disputes, the date for submitting declaration and making fee with out extra quantity under Vivad se Vishwas was prolonged from March 31, 2020 to June 30, 2020.

This date was prolonged additional to December 31, 2020. Earlier, each the declaration and the fee with out extra quantity under the Vivad se Vishwas had been required to be made by December 31, 2020. The fee date has since being prolonged to March 2021.