Narendra Modi government has received a bumper response to the Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme which aimed to facilitate small taxpayers to clear the baggage of disputes under legacy taxes like service tax and central excise that were subsumed in the Goods and Service Tax in July 2017.
A Finance Ministry source told Sputnik: “87.5 percent of the taxpayers who were eligible for the scheme have availed the scheme, declaring tax dues of $10.84 billion.”
Balance taxpayers, mainly the large taxpayers, haven’t yet opted for the scheme. “Amount worth $23.94 billion is under litigation from large taxpayers,” the source said, adding that the department is pursuing them to pay up as the scheme closes on 15 January.
This comes as a breather for the Indian economy, which is facing a fiscal challenge amid falling revenues.