The government has collected approximately rupees 9538 crores as revenue from the direct tax Vivad se Vishwas Vishwas scheme. Anurag Singh Thakur minister of state for finance stated that 35,074 declarations have been filed till 8 September 2020. Anurag Singh Thakur in the Rajya Sabha has stated that the revenue generated has been in Rupees 9538 crore which does not include the payments made by the taxpayers who are yet to file the declarations under the scheme. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed the direct tax dispute resolution scheme this year in order to provide an opportunity for taxpayers to pay outstanding taxes and get a waiver of interest and penalty. This scheme is valid till 31st December 2020. The scheme basically allows the taxpayer to have a discounted payment if he or she has settled all the disputes before the end of the year which is 2019 to 2020. This scheme will be applicable to only those taxpayers who have filed for appeals to resolve disputed tax interest or penalty in matters with the income tax appellate Tribunal the Commissioner and high court or Supreme Court as on 31st January 2020.

The scheme under its purview does not include cases in which the disputed tax amount exceeds Rupees 5 crore, the cases where the prosecution has been initiated, the cases where reassessment or an assessment has to be made on basis of information received under tax treaties, and cases which involved undisclosed income from a source outside India for an asset located outside India which is undisclosed. The persons who cannot take advantage of this scheme include those who have been ordered detention under the Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act 1974, those who have been convicted for an offense which is punishable under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1964, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002 and the Prohibition of Benami Property Transaction Act 1988, those who have been prosecuted by revenue authorities offenses punishable under Indian Penal Code and those who are being notified under section 3 of the Special Court (Trial of offenses related to transactions in securities) Act 1992. The tax arrears resolved under this scheme include disputed interest disputed penalty disputed fee and the aggregate amount of disputed tax interest chargeable and penalty leviable on such disputed tax.

This article does not intend to hurt the sentiments of any individual, community, sect, or religion, etcetera. This article is based purely on the author’s personal opinion and views in the exercise of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Article 19(1)(A) and other related laws being enforced in India for the time being.