Jaitley announces new dispute resolution scheme

Announcing New Dispute Resolution Scheme he said that no penalty will be charged in respect of cases with disputed tax up to Rs.10 lakh. Cases with disputed tax exceeding Rs.10 lakh will be subjected to 25% of the minimum of the imposable penalty.

Any pending appeal against a penalty order can also be settled by paying 25% of the minimum of the imposable penalty and tax interest on quantum addition, he said.

Shri Jaitley announced a High Level Committee chaired by Revenue Secretary to oversee fresh cases where Assessing Officer applied the retrospective amendment.

In case of mis-reporting of facts, the Finance Minister proposed penalty rates of 200% of tax and 50% penalty in case of under-reporting of income.

He said this allowance will be limited to 1% of the average monthly value of investments yielding exempt income, but not exceeding the actual expenditure claimed under Rule –AD of Section -14A of Income Tax Act.

There will be a time limit of one year for disposing petitions of the tax-payers seeking waiver of interest and penalty. It will be mandatory for the Assessing Officer to grant stay of demand once the assessee pays 15% of the disputed demand while the appeal is pending before Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals).

Shri Jaitley said that the monetary limit for deciding an appeal by a single member Bench of ITAT will be enhanced from Rs.15 lakh to Rs.50 lakh. He also announced creation of 11 new Benches of Customs, Excise and Service Tax, Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) to remove backlog of cases.

Source : Equity Bulls

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