Option to withdraw pending settlement applications allows abatement and restarts tax proceedings with exclusion of the intervening limitation period. Taxpayers may withdraw pending applications to the Settlement Commission within three months from commencement of the Finance Act, 2021 by intimating the Assessing Officer; failure to withdraw results in the application being deemed received by the Interim Board when allotted or transferred. The Board may allot or transfer pending applications among Interim Boards and all records with the Settlement Commission shall transfer accordingly. Withdrawal causes the proceedings to abate and the relevant income-tax authority shall dispose of the case as if no application had been made, with the period from application to withdrawal excluded for assessment and interest time-limits, and materials produced before the Commission barred from use in subsequent proceedings except where independently collected by the tax authority.