Himachal: Excise Department floats legacy scheme to settle VAT cases

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, December 23

In a bid to settle 1.68 lakh pending cases under Value Added Tax (VAT) and Central Sales Tax (CST), the State Taxes and Excise Department has approved Himachal Pradesh Swarn Jayanti (Legacy Cases Resolution) Scheme, 2021.

Various stakeholders and dealers, who have been awaiting this scheme, will immensely benefit as it will help in resolving old pending cases. There are 13,705 cases in Solan, 20,108 in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, 11,615 in Sirmaur and 9,869 in Una, among other districts.

Commissioner State Taxes and Excise Yunus said that the scheme would help resolve 1.68 lakh pending VAT and CST cases and fetch sizable revenue to the department. The scheme will be valid for four months and will have two phases. The settlement fee will be more in the second phase, informed officials.

It has been specially launched to help pre-GST taxpayers to resolve tax liability and disputes. Under this scheme taxpayers can pay outstanding tax amount and be free from any other liability under the law. Taxpayers will get substantial relief in the form of full waivers of interests and penalties. Problems like compiling documents, collecting pending statutory forms and preparing reconciliations to complete VAT assessments have become a Herculean task for the taxpayers. Though the Goods and Service Tax (GST) was introduced years ago, companies, industries, dealers are left with disputes of earlier regime.

This scheme will provide an opportunity to settle old liabilities so that taxpayers can focus on GST compliance. The state government could also get one-time revenue lift with this scheme. It is important for the government to clean up the past legacy dispute at the earliest and ensure GST compliance in the new setup, said officials.

As per the World Bank guidelines and directions, if the state government manages to resolve all legacy cases by March 31, it will create a conducive financial environment for the trade and industry in the state. This will benefit the state in securing soft finances and is also significant under the ease of doing business initiatives. It will also lead to better GST compliance as per World Bank directions.

Will resolve 1.68 lakh cases in all

• Various stakeholders and dealers, who have been awaiting this scheme, will immensely benefit as it will help in resolving pending cases. There are 13,705 cases in Solan, 20,108 in Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, 11,615 in Sirmaur and 9,869 in Una, among other districts.
• Commissioner, State Taxes and Excise, Yunus said that the scheme would help resolve 1.68 lakh pending VAT and CST cases and fetch sizable revenue to the department.