The income tax department on Wednesday kick-started implementation of the direct tax dispute resolution scheme, Vivad se Vishwas, by notifying the ‘designated authorities’ who will accept applications and issue orders under each jurisdiction.

However, with barely 14 days to avail full benefit of the scheme, the rules and forms for taxpayers are still awaited, making the timeline appear unrealistic.


Besides, tax experts pointed out that with a majority of workforce functioning from home due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was impossible to meet the March 31 deadline (without additional payment) under the scheme.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Wednesday directed the principal chief commissioners to ‘immediately’ notify field officers as ‘designated authorities.’ Principal chief commissioner of income tax Delhi notified 13 commissioners of income tax as designated authorities. The move comes a day after the scheme was notified post President’s assent.

The scheme is open till June 30 and an additional 10 per cent needs to be paid for taxes paid after March 31. There are more than 400,000 such cases eligible to avail of the scheme, and they involve at least Rs 9.3 trillion.

The designated authorities will determine the amount payable within 15 days of receiving the declaration and grant a certificate of amount to be paid.

The declarant will have to deposit the money within 15 days of determining the tax liability.