Tax amnesty scheme garners Rs 54,000 crore | Economic Times

The government has garnered over Rs 54,000 crore against disputed tax claim of over Rs 1 lakh crore through the ‘Vivaad Se Vishwas Scheme’ (VSVS) which ended March 31, 2021, making it one of the most successful schemes of the tax department, a top official said."As things stand today, I think amongst all the schemes, this has shown the best possible results... Almost one-third of the disputes, which we set out to resolve get settled," said Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman PC Mody.Of the total 5.10 lakh pending tax disputes as of January 2020, the government has received declarations for 1.48 lakh cases and applications for 1.33 lakh cases.A majority of the declarations and applications has been from the private sector. "The entire scheme was not from a collection point of view. it was always for settlement of disputes," Mody said. "It's a big relief to the taxpayer as well as to the resources of the department also." Mody said that no other scheme would be required after VSVS, as it had been extended several times to give taxpayers ample opportunities to settle their disputes.81938503VSVS in numbersOf the total 1.33 lakh applications filed by taxpayers under the scheme, central public-sector units had submitted 1,385 applications while state PSUs or Boards added another 870. Central PSU cases had total disputed tax of Rs 35,109 crore and Rs 27,718 crore has been collected. In the case of state PSUs, the disputed tax was Rs 1,615 crore of which Rs 1,020 crore has been paid. Private sector makes up the remaining Rs 1.31 lakh cases adding up to Rs 63,713 crore in disputed tax. Against this amount, Rs 25,267 crore has been paid. The total settlement amount is Rs 54,005 crore. The number of disputes for which declarations were received is 1.48 lakh — 1.45 lakh appeals by taxpayers and balance 3,453 by the income tax department.The Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020, was enacted on March 17, 2020 to settle direct tax disputes in various appellate fora.