If Taxpayer withdraws Appeals filed after 30.06.2019 may avail Sabka Vishwas Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2019: CBIC [Read Circular]

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes ( CBIC ) has issued certain clarification on Sabka Vishwas Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2019 on tuesday.

The CBIC said that, the cases where appeals were filed after 30.06.2019 should also be allowed relief under the Scheme. It is stated that such cases are not covered per se. However, if a taxpayer withdraws the appeal and furnishes the undertaking to the department in terms of Para 2(viii) of Circular No. 1072/05/2019- CX dated 25.09.2019, they can file a declaration under the Scheme.

The CBIC also clarified that, “an audit is PENDING and the amount of duty payable has been quantified on or before the 30th day of June, 2019. Some field formations are taking a view that in case the Final Audit Report (FAR) has been issued, the audit is not pending and the benefit of the scheme is not available. The process of audit involves issue of FAR by the Audit Commissionerates after the MCM (Monitoring Committee Meeting). if in compliance to the FAR, the taxpayer pays the duty, the relevant para is closed. If the taxpayer does not comply, a SCN is issued by the Audit Commissionerate answerable to the jurisdictional Executive Commissionerate. Till such time an audit does not culminate in a Show Cause Notice, it is treated as pending. Therefore, cases where Final Audit Report (FAR) has been issued on or before 30th June 2019, are eligible for relief under SVLDRS as the tax demand has been quantified”.

The Scheme provides that no verification will be carried out in cases of voluntary disclosure, they felt that there may still be a requirement to determine the eligibility to avail the Scheme. It is clarified that such declarations may be accepted without recourse to determination of eligibility as the Scheme provides ample safeguards for taking suitable action in case of false declaration of any material particular [Section 129(2)(c)].

The CBIC also addressed the question whether a party who has filed an ST-3 return and has also paid the dues in FULL before filing the application but still wants to avail the benefits of the scheme for interest on the late paid dues is eligible. It is clarified that these also cover the cases of arrears of tax liability admitted under returns filed on or before 30.06.2019.

“Vide Circular No. 1072/05/2019-CX dated 25.09.2019 [Para 2(iii)], it was clarified that a separate declaration will need to be filed for each return filed, on or before 30.06.2019 but duty not paid. For the sake of administrative convenience, it is clarified that a person can file a single declaration for more than one such return also. However, it will not have any impact on the applicable tax relief. In other words, for the purpose of application of tax relief, each such return will be taken individually even though a single Estimate/Statement and Discharge Certificate shall be issued for a declaration”, the department also added.