Tax professionals in Gujarat are irked by a move by state tax authorities under which bank accounts of businessmen are being seized. They claim that the action is a precursor to the proposed Amnesty Scheme for resolution of legacy tax disputes so that less cases claims the scheme and the government gets higher revenues.
Tax professionals in Gujarat are irked by a move by state tax authorities under which bank accounts of businessmen are being seized. They claim that the action is a precursor to the proposed Amnesty Scheme for resolution of legacy tax disputes so that less cases claims the scheme and the government gets higher revenues.
Tax authorities have denied that the step was taken with an eye on the proposed Amnesty Scheme and said it was aimed at recovery of taxes from evaders.
Urvish Patel, president of Gujarat Sales Tax Bar Association (GSTBA), said officials of the State Goods and Service Tax (SGST) Commissionerate sought seizure of bank accounts of a large number of businessmen across the state, following which the accounts were seized. "What is the logic of steps to recover the dues when the Amnesty Scheme has already been proposed? If such steps are taken, the likelihood of success of the scheme is very little," said Patel.
Harnish Modh, former president of Tax Advocates Association of Gujarat, said any payment made before formal rollout of the scheme will ensure the government loses less revenue under the scheme. "In addition to this, seizure of bank accounts can lead to non-payment of bills or taxes by the businesses and disrupt day-to-day payments," he said.
But a senior SGST Commissionerate official said anonymously the seizures are "a routine process". "Wherever we found that businesses have not paid tax as per returns, we have resorted to this step. It would be improper to link these seizures to the upcoming scheme as it is not launched. If the returns filed do not match the tax paid, we take such actions."
What Scheme Offers
- In case of tax disputes, businesses have to pay interest and penalty in addition to the tax
- Under Amnesty Scheme, if tax dues are paid, interest, penalty will be waived
- Tax practitioners believe if recovery process is done now, businesses will have to pay interest as well as penalty
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