Vivad Se Vishwas Act 2020

November 20, 2020 Reference

The Vivad se Vishwas scheme was announced by the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the Budget speech 2020. It is a scheme related to payment of Direct Taxes and dispute resolution.

Key Points

  • The scheme became an Act after a bill regarding the same was passed in both the houses and the President gave consent.
  • The scheme aims to decrease the pending income tax litigations at various forums like Supreme Court, High Court, and Income Tax Appellate Tribunal etc.
  • The scheme provides for settlement of disputed taxes pertaining to an assessment upon payment of 100% payment of tax. The taxpayer is granted immunity from penalty and interest payments.
  • The income tax disputes settled under the scheme cannot be reopened by income tax department or any other authority.

How does the Vivad se Vishwas scheme work?

As per the scheme, the designated authority declares the amount payable by the taxpayer within 15 days of receiving receipt of the declaration. The authority will also issue a certificate to the declarant, which will provide the information about the amount of tax arrears and total amount after such determination. Taxpayers then have to pay the amount.

Vivad se Vishwas Act 2020 collects 72,480 crore tax

Recently, the government announced the collection of 72,480 crore so far under the scheme. Till November 17, 2020, a total of 45,855 declarations have been filed under the scheme including a disputed tax demand of Rs 31,734 crore. The Union Government has extended the deadline for payment of tax under the scheme, without payment of any additional amount, to March 31, 2021. As per the notification of CBDT, the last date for declarations is December 31, 2020. A total amount of Rs 1, 00,195 crore is being settled by Central public sector companies under the scheme.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the authority responsible for administration of laws pertaining to direct taxes through the Income Tax Department. It was formed as per the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963. Pramod Chandra Mody is the present Chairperson of CBDT.