Stalin announces new scheme to settle commercial tax dues
The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday announced a new Samadhan scheme with waivers and concessions to pave the way for the settlement of the pending tax dues of about ₹25,000 crore, of which a majority are under the erstwhile Tamil Nadu Value Added Tax and other legacy tax legislations.
The new Samadhan scheme, which was announced by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin at the State Assembly, seeks to put an end to the pending tax arrears, disputes and appeals between the traders and the State commercial tax department.
As GST came into force on July 1, 2017, about 10 acts erstwhile were all subsumed under GST. But the tax arrears, interests and penalties of the previous regime were pending.
The scheme has classified the tax dues under five broad categories — ₹50,000 and below, above ₹50,000 to ₹10 lakh, above ₹10 lakh to ₹1 crore, above ₹1 crore to ₹10 crore and above ₹10 crore.
As per the data available, there are 2,11,607 tax disputes involving 1,42,569 traders. The total tax outstanding amount is ₹24,895 crore.
The new scheme offers a complete waiver of tax arrears, interest, and penalty if the total tax arrears for an assessment year is below ₹50,000, and this is for every assessment year, a move that is expected to give a big relief to the small traders.