Panaji: Goa office of Income Tax department has written to State chief secretary urging him to ask State run Public Sector Undertakings to avail the benefit of sorting out tax disputes under “Vivad se Vishwas” scheme, introduced by the central government.
Chief Commissioner of Income Tax B V Gopinath told reporters in Panaji on Friday that five state PSUs have entered into corporate tax dispute with the department, who are now eligible to sort out their issues under “Vivad se Vishwas” scheme.
Gopinath was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event to create awareness on the scheme, which was recently passed by the Parliament.
The scheme provides an opportunity to taxpayers to settle their tax disputes by paying just due taxes with complete waiver of interest and penalty by March 31.
Gopinathan said that State chief secretary has already been approached urging him to ask the PSUs to avail the scheme. He said that total Rs two crore has been pending with five PSUs run by the state government.
The IT officer said that there are several other disputes pending in the state which are eligible to take benefit under this scheme.
“The department is trying to reach out to the disputed parties through Chartered Accountants and advocates,” he said adding that since this is a voluntary scheme, no one can be forced to opt for it.
“We want as much as possible people to take advantage of this scheme,” he added.
Meawhile, Gopinathan said that the Income Tax collection growth in Goa is increasing marginally due to various factors.
He said that stoppage of mining industry could be one of the factor affecting the tax collections. “When mining was on, people had income and they used to pay the taxes,” he said, without elaborating further.
Gopinathan also said that the Coronavirus outbreak will also affect the tax collection as the tourism industry is looking at sluggish future.
