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FM Exhorts Service Tax Defaulters to Pay Up Courtesy : The Economic Times, (Press Trust of India Mumbai)

Asking service tax defaulters to take advantage of the amnesty scheme, finance minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said the government could not have come out with a better offer for them to come clean.

Addressing industry chambers here, the minister said the revenue department has so far received 6,409 applications, of which 3,085 have been accepted. Only 89 have been rejected. and 3,235 cases are pending and they will be processed, Chidambaram said.

“We only want to collect the tax. By giving up interest, government is actually giving up legitimate revenue. I don’t think there could be a more generous offer,” he said while elaborating on the Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme (VCES).

He said that of the total 17 lakh registered service tax payers, only 7 lakh were paying the levy.
VCES was introduced with effect from May 10, 2013 as a one-time amnesty scheme for paying service tax dues for the period October 1, 2007 to December 31, 2012 without interest and penalty.

The minister said the revenue department intends to collect over . 1.80 lakh crore under service tax in the current fiscal. “We are giving you, what I think is a fair and generous opportunity… Between a date in 2007 and a date in 2012, if you have a liability to pay service tax and you had not paid it, here is a chance for you to pay and we will not charge you interest or penalty and you will not be prosecuted,” he said.

Service tax collection between April-September grew by 16% to . 59,000 crore.

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During my 37-year-old career with Income Tax department, I moved from place to place, post to post. For me, every posting was a challenge, and at the same time an opportunity to deliver.

After my retirement as Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes, I was invited by various institutions and NGOs to deliver talks on tax matters. While advising taxpayers across sectors, I noticed, our vast salaried class including armed and paramilitary forces, pensioners or senior citizens, NRIs, professionals and small business establishments need the right guidance. Most taxpayers do comply with their tax obligations fully. Yet, they are not somehow relaxed and are burdened with anxieties. A large number of taxpayers are not even aware that getting tax refund on time is a basic right.

In one such meeting, a middle-aged man quizzed me why could not I give tax advice 24X7. For a moment, I had no answer. He then added that I should give tax solutions online so that he does not need to come from a remote place to attend my lecture. I thanked him for his suggestion.

For a while I was restless. Already I had got myself enrolled as a Member of the Bar Council of Delhi and as an Advocate of Delhi High Court Bar Association, thanks to my law degree from the University of Allahabad. Yet, I was not sure how I could help the vast majority of taxpayers who somehow maintain a safe distance from the taxmen. I then tossed the idea of creating a tax think-tank with some of my former colleagues and highly spirited individuals. All of us immediately agreed on one count: millions of Indian taxpayers expect to access tailor-made tax research materials and seek guidance from those who have been parts of the tax machinery for decades.

That is how CTAR was born. So, be a part of our passionate journey to explain tax laws and rules in simpler words. Just drop us a few lines on any query related to direct and indirect tax or FEMA. We are at your assistance. We also look forward to hearing your experiences while dealing with the system.