Pursue cases rejected under 'Sabka Vishwas' scheme: CAG

The Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) has asked the revenue department to take effective steps to pursue, in a time bound manner, cases rejected under the indirect tax dispute settlement scheme Sabka Vishwas Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme 2019.

The CAG also asked the department to investigate 28,825 cases for which discharge certificates could not be issued due to non- payment of the estimated payable amount. In a report tabled in Parliament, CAG said in particular, 'Voluntary Disclosure' cases where liability was not discharged, should be vigorously pursued to protect the interest of revenue.

"Arrears are confirmed demand and have no expiry date and it is possible that many of the declarants might have migrated to the Goods and Services Tax regime as assessees and therefore recovery actions are pursuable," it said.


The key aim of the 'Scheme' was to unload the baggage relating to the legacy cases viz. Central Excise and Service Tax that have been subsumed under GST. Irregular relief of ₹109.81 crore in 28 declarations was extended to declarants who sought relief with respect to ineligible goods, it said, adding that the SVLDRS portal accepted multiple declarations in 208 cases involving tax dues of ₹273.53 crore, which resulted in processing of certain cases multiple times.

Direct Taxes
In a separate report, the CAG asked the Central Board of Direct Taxes to address certain issues. "Application of incorrect rates of tax and surcharge, errors in levy of interest, excess or irregular refunds etc. point to weaknesses in the internal controls in the income tax department, which need to be addressed," it said.