'Vivad se Vishwas' scheme offers fair deal to settle past direct tax disputes: CBDT chief

New Delhi: Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman P C Mody on Tuesday said the direct tax dispute resolution scheme offers a fair deal to settle pending tax disputes as he urged people to come forward and avail the plan.

Currently, there are 4.83 lakh direct tax cases pending in various appellate forums -- Commissioner (Appeals), Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), High Court and Supreme Court.

Under the Vivad se Vishwas' scheme announced in the Union Budget, taxpayers whose tax demands are locked in dispute in multiple forums can pay due taxes by March 31, 2020, and get complete waiver of interest and penalty.

Mody said, under the scheme if a taxpayer is not able to pay within the March 31 deadline, he gets a further time till June 30, but in that case he would have to pay 10 per cent more on the tax.

In case it is just the interest and the penalty which is in dispute, the taxpayer will have to pay 25 per cent of the disputed amount till March 31, and subsequently it will be 30 per cent.

I feel this is a fair deal and I would urge people to rethink about the pending issues, and come forward and avail of the scheme, Mody said speaking at an Assocham post-budget interaction here.

On the new tax structure which provides taxpayers an option of lower I-T rate by giving up certain exemption and deductions, he said the intention behind this was to make the tax system simple.