The Chamber is in its 93rd year and is a young dynamic organisation. It is an Institution with the tradition of high integrity, independence and professionalism. The Chamber acts as a powerhouse of knowledge in the field of fiscal laws, contributes to the development of law and profession through research, analysis, and dissemination of knowledge. The Chamber is spreading knowledge through various means and one of them is to come out with various publications.

It gives us immense pleasure in presenting before you this unique publication on ‘Analysis of the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme’. This publication contains a detailed analysis of the various aspects of the scheme along with reference to various judicial pronouncements.

More than two years have elapsed since the introduction of GST wherein the major Indirect Taxes such as Excise, Service Tax, VAT etc., were subsumed. There were multiple authorities who were adjudicating and assessing the tax liabilities of the assessees. Due to various complexities involved in implementation and interpretation of law, many cases are in dispute and under litigation.

The Hon’ble Finance Minister of India in her maiden Budget presented in July, 2019 mentioned that more than Rs 3.75 lakh crore is blocked in litigations in Service Tax and Excise and there is a need to unload this baggage and allow business to move on. In pursuance thereof, the The ‘Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019’ (The Scheme) has become operational from 1st September, 2019 to close the pending legacy disputes of Service Tax, Excise and various allied laws. The amnesty component of the Scheme offers an opportunity to the taxpayers to pay specified percentage of outstanding tax and also get relief from other consequences under law. The most attractive aspect of the Scheme is that it is applicable to various categories of cases and there is full waiver of interest, late fees and penalty. There is also a complete amnesty from prosecution.

The Government expects the Scheme to be availed by a large number of taxpayers for closing their pending disputes relating to legacy Service Tax and Central Excise cases that are now subsumed under GST which in turn would enable the Government to focus on GST. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has issued Circulars, Instructions and FAQs clarifying the operational aspects, reliefs available under the Scheme and other issues concerning the Scheme.

Inspite of the clarifications issued by the Government, there are various debatable and instrinsic issues in implementing and complying with the provisions of the Scheme. The issues relating to enquiries, investigations, audits which were initiated but not quantified as on the cut off date are very crucial. Also there are issues related to cases where final hearing has taken place before the cut off date but the orders have not been issued before the cut off date. The Indirect Tax Committee therefore thought it fit to come out with the publication on the Scheme for the benefit of the professionals.

An indepth analysis of the various aspects of the Scheme has been made by the Author of this publication CA Abhay Desai. The Scheme has been analysed and explained in a question-answer form along with reference to judicial precedents. The clarifications issued till 30th September, 2019 have been duly included in this publication. We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of CA Abhay Desai for the indepth analysis of the Scheme. We are also thankful to CA Naresh Sheth for vetting the publication and providing his valuable suggestions and insights for this masterly publication on the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme.

The Chamber is releasing this publication in print format along with a password protected facility to view the publication online. The e-version of this publication is available on Chamber’s website www.ctconline.org and the password has been printed in the book itself. This unique feature of the publication is introduced by Chamber for the first time and would be useful to readers who prefer printed version as well as readers who like to read online.

We are sure that the publication will help the users in understanding and implementing the various aspects of the scheme and will be a very useful reference material.

Back to Top