‘Vivad se Vishwas’ Bill gets Upper House nod

NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Friday passed the Direct Tax ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ (dispute to trust) Bill that aims to resolve more than 483,000 legacy disputes stuck in various tribunals involving direct taxes amounting to ~9.32 lakh crore. The scheme, however, excludes litigations above ~5 crore to check evasion.

Replying to the debate on the bill in the House, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said taxpayers can avail the full benefit of the scheme by March 31 and till June 30 by paying some addiis tional amount. The government will notify the last date for the scheme later.

“We want to assure that the date given as March 31 is for payment without any kind of penalty or additional charge. There will be an additional 10% payment between March 31 and June 30. However, what is important here that the bill authorises the government to notify the end date,” she said. Depending on the response of the scheme, the government will issue the notification, she added. On Friday, the Rajya Sabha passed the ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ bill by voice vote. It was approved by the Lok Sabha on March 4.

Speaking in the House, the minister said the taxpayer who has paid tax under protest and wants to settle the matter would get the refund. “Those who have paid with a protest, if the amount paid is much higher than the tax they have to duly pay, you have this relief of refund coming in,” she said. Hindustan Times had reported it on March 5. She said cases above ~5 crore have been excluded from the scheme. “I want to make it clear that the cases above ~5 crore have been excluded. This will ensure that large evasion-related and fraud cases do not come under the ambit of the scheme,” she said.

In the Budget presented on February 1, Sitharaman had said ‘Vivad se Viswas’ will offer a onetime waiver of penalty and interest if the amount is paid before March 31. The scheme, however, did not offer clarity on refund of the money paid in excess of the disputed tax amount.

TAXPAYERS CAN AVAIL BENEFIT OF THE SCHEME BY MARCH 31 , AND TILL JUNE 30 BY PAYING AN ADDITIONAL AMOUNT