Tax dues under Sabka Vishwas must include the full disputed liability, not just duty, when deposits are assessed.
Under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, "tax dues" must be read in accordance with the statutory definition and not treated as interchangeable with only the duty component. Where the disputed liability in appeal comprises duty together with interest, the amount already deposited by the declarant must be assessed against the entire disputed demand. A prior deposit that covers the disputed liability cannot be confined to duty alone for insisting on further payment. On that basis, the additional demand was unsustainable and the Scheme application was to be processed without requiring any further deposit.
Issues: Whether, for the purposes of the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, the expression "tax dues" included the entire disputed liability comprising duty and interest, and whether the amount already deposited by the declarant could be ignored by treating only the duty component as payable.
Analysis: The Scheme defined "tax dues" in relation to a pending appeal as the total amount of duty disputed in the appeal. The use of both "duty" and "tax dues" in the statutory scheme indicated that they were not interchangeable expressions. On the facts, the disputed liability before the appellate forum was the total amount demanded, which included both the duty component and interest. The amount already deposited by the declarant exceeded the amount treated as payable by the Department if the deposit was viewed against the entire disputed liability.
Conclusion: The amount already deposited could not be confined to only the duty component for the purpose of insisting on a further deposit under the Scheme. The impugned demand for additional payment was unsustainable and the application under the Scheme had to be processed without insisting on any further deposit.
Final Conclusion: The writ petition succeeded and the Department was directed to reconsider the declarant's application under the Scheme on the basis that the earlier deposit satisfied the requirement.
Ratio Decidendi: Under the Scheme, the expression "tax dues" must be construed according to the statutory definition and cannot be reduced to only the principal duty component where the disputed liability includes interest as part of the total amount under appeal.
TaxTMI 
AI Drafter ✕
TaxTMI 
