Govt Extends Payment Date For Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme Till 31 March Next Year To Provide Relief To Taxpayers

In a bid to provide further relief to the taxpayers desirous of settling disputes under Vivad se Vishwas scheme, the government on Tuesday (28 October) further extended the date for making payment without additional amount from 31 December 2020 to 31 March 2021, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

The last date for making declaration under the scheme has also been notified as 31 December 2020.

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

Meanwhile, while reviewing the progress made so far by the I-T department on the Vivad Se Vishwas scheme, Finance Secretary Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey asked the officials across the country to expedite the scheme which, he said, is highly beneficial to the taxpayers.

“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,” Pandey said.

It should be noted that the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 was enacted on 17 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 31 March 2020 to 30 June 2020. Later again, this date was extended further to 31 December 2020.