Amnesty Scheme For Service Tax Defaulters

The Finance Ministry has implemented one-time amnesty scheme for service tax defaulters to pay their due without any penalty or late payment charges.

The ‘Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme’, which came into force after passage of Finance Bill on May 10, can be availed by a service tax defaulter by this year end. 

A defaulter may declare his due tax liabilities, including the cess charges, for a period between October 1, 2007 and December 31, 2012 and pay it to the government after making a truthful declaration and can avoid penalty, interest or any other penal proceedings.

The first-of-its-kind scheme was introduced by Finance Minister P.Chidambaram while presenting budget for 2013-14.

Of the 17 lakh registered assesses under Service tax, only seven lakh were filing returns,Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had said. 

The Scheme

• A person may make a declaration to the designated authority on or before the Dec 31, 2013

• All such declarant under the scheme have to pay not less than 50 % of the tax dues on or before December 31, 2013 and the rest by June 30, 2014