Govt announces big relief to taxpayers! Payment date for Vivad se Vishwas Scheme extended – All you need to know

In order to provide further relief to the taxpayers desirous of settling disputes under Vivad se Vishwas Scheme, the Government has further extended the date for making payment without additional amount from December 31, 2020 to March 31, 2021. The last date for making declaration under the Scheme has also been notified as December 31, 2020.

As per the notification issued today, the declaration under the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme shall be required to be furnished latest by December 31, 2020, however, only in respect of said declarations made by December 31, 2020 the payment without additional amount can now be made up to March 31, 2021.

Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey has also reviewed the progress made so far by the Income Tax Department on Vivad se Vishwas Scheme in a high level meeting through video conferencing along with CBDT Chairman and Board members with all Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax across the country to expedite the Scheme which, he said, is highly beneficial to the taxpayers, adding further that “We need to advance the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme with greater persuasion and perseverance and must reach out to the taxpayers to facilitate all necessary handholding.”

In the meeting, suggestions and comments of the Field Officers were also discussed regarding the action plan for successful implementation of the Scheme in a time bound manner.

In the meeting, CBDT Chairman PC Mody mentioned the importance of cleaning up of demand for facilitating and persuading the taxpayers for filing declarations under the Scheme. He emphasized on Pr. Chief Commissioners of Income Tax to carry out all possible actions such as disposing pending rectifications, giving pending appeal effects, removing duplicate demands, etc. so as to arrive at a final demand for each assessee so that whenever a taxpayer files Form 1 or 2 under the Vivad se Vishwas Scheme, the Pr. Commissioner of Income Tax concerned is in a position to issue Form 3 promptly.

It was also decided in the meeting 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 or problems faced by them in availing the Scheme. It was further decided to have periodic review of the progress of the Scheme every fortnight.

The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 was enacted on 17th March, 2020 with the objective to reduce pending income tax litigation, 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 would otherwise be spent on the long-drawn and vexatious litigation process.

In order to provide more time to taxpayers to settle disputes, earlier the date for filing declaration and making payment without additional amount under Vivad se Vishwas was extended from March 31, 2020 to June 30, 2020. Later again, this date was extended further to December 31, 2020.

Therefore, earlier both the declaration and the payment without additional amount under the Vivad se Vishwas were required to be made by December 31, 2020.

Bureau Report