The scheme would operationalise from September 1, 2019 and remain open till year-end.
The amnesty scheme announced in the Union Budget last month is aimed at unloading the baggage relating to the legacy cases of central excise and service tax that have been subsumed under GST.
Dispute resolution and amnesty are the two components of this scheme. While the dispute resolution component is aimed at liquidating the legacy cases locked up in litigation at various forums, the amnesty component gives an opportunity to those who have failed to correctly discharge their tax liability to pay the tax dues.
The scheme offers substantial relief to the taxpayers and others who may potentially avail it.
Accordingly, the relief is to the extent of 70% of the duty involved if it is Rs 50 lakh or less and 50% if it is more than Rs 50 lakh. The same relief is available for cases under investigation and audit where the duty involved is quantified and communicated to the party or admitted by him in a statement on or before June 30, 2019.
In cases of confirmed duty demand, where there is no appeal pending, the relief offered is 60% of the confirmed duty amount if the same is Rs 50 lakh or less and it is 40% if the confirmed duty amount is more than Rs 50 lakh.
"The Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 has the potential to liquidate the huge outstanding litigation and free the taxpayers from the burden of litigation and investigation under the legacy taxes. The administrative machinery of the government will also be able to fully focus on helping the taxpayers in the smooth implementation of GST. Thus, the importance of making this Scheme a grand success cannot be overstated," the CBIC has written to its field officers.
The Sabka Vishwas amnesty scheme seeks to resolve about 1.5 lakh cases involving an amount of Rs 3.75 lakh crore pending before Commissioner (Appeals), CESTAT, High Courts and the Supreme Court. These cases termed as legacy cases are related with central excise duty, services tax and central cesses which have now been subsumed in GST.
( With inputs from IANS )