Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman PC Mody has directed tax officials to calculate tax demand for all assesses by August 31 and dispose of pending appeals.
Mody has fixed monthly targets for field formations for the same. In a letter to Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax, the CBDT chief stated that though several taxpayers are waiting to file their applications under 'Vivad Se Vishwas' scheme, they are also expecting an accurate tax demand to be intimated to them.
In disposing of pending appeals, Mody has fixed a monthly target by sending communication via the e-filing portal or through emails only.
"...board desires that all the work... of cleaning up the tax demand and calculating the tax payable or refundable in respect of all eligible assessees under Vivad Se Vishwas scheme is taken up on priority," the CBDT chief wrote in a letter dated July 9.
Asking taxmen to immediately attend to the applications under the Vivad Se Vishwas scheme, the CBDT chief said "whether an application under the scheme is received or not, all the assessing officers... shall compute the tax payable by or refundable to all eligible assessees in their jurisdiction."
This exercise must be done for all the assessees in case they wish to opt-out of the scheme and to avoid last minute rush and problems. The assessing officers (AOs) have to complete the process by August 31, 2020.
The deadline for settling tax disputes under the Vivad se Vishwas scheme ends on December 31, 2020. Under the scheme, taxpayers willing to settle disputes will be allowed a complete waiver of interest and penalty if they pay the entire amount of tax in dispute by December 31 this year.
The scheme aims to settle and see the finalisation of 4.83 lakh direct tax cases with revenue worth Rs 9.32 lakh crore locked up in litigation, pending at various appellate forums such as the commissioner (appeals), ITATs, high courts, and the Supreme Court.
This amount accounts for about 71 per cent of the budgeted direct tax collection of Rs 13.19 lakh crore for the 2020-21 fiscal. Of this, the income tax collection target is pegged at Rs 6.38 lakh crore and corporate tax at Rs 6.81 lakh crore.
The actual gross direct tax collection in 2019-20 and 2018-19 stood at Rs 12.33 lakh crore and Rs 12.97 lakh crore, respectively.
With the economy slowing down and the coronavirus-induced lockdown taking a toll on business activities, the first instalment of advance tax collections tanked by over 76 per cent, dragging the net direct tax collections down by 32.3 per cent for the April-June quarter.
Corporate advance tax dropped by nearly 80 per cent and the advance payment for personal income tax fell by around 64 per cent.
(With inputs from PTI)