The Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman made her maiden Budget Speech today and presented the Union Budget 2019-20 before the Parliament. The key highlights of Indirect Tax proposals of Finance Bill 0.2 of 2019 are as follows:

Make In India

• Basic Customs Duty increased on cashew kernels, PVC, tiles, auto parts, marble slabs, optical fibre cable, CCTV camera etc.

• Exemptions from Custom Duty on certain electronic items now manufactured in India withdrawn.

• End use based exemptions on palm stearin, fatty oils withdrawn.

• Exemptions to various kinds of papers withdrawn.

• 5% Basic Custom Duty imposed on imported books.

• Customs duty reduced on certain raw materials.

Other Indirect Tax provisions

• Export duty rationalised on raw and semi-finished leather

• Increase in Special Additional Excise Duty and Road and Infrastructure Cess each by ₹ 1 per litre on petrol and diesel

• Custom duty on gold and other precious metals increased

• Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme for quick closure of pending litigations in Central Excise and Service tax from pre-GST regime.

Salient features of Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme 2019:

GST has just completed two years. An area that concerns is that we have huge pending litigations from pre-GST regime. More than ₹ 3.75 lakh crore is blocked in litigations in service tax and excise. There is a need to unload this baggage and allow business to move on. Therefore, a Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme has been proposed that will allow quick closure of these litigations.

It is a dispute resolution cum amnesty scheme for resolution and settlement of legacy cases. It covers past disputes of taxes which have got subsumed in GST namely Central Excise, Service Tax and Cesses. All persons are eligible to avail the scheme except a few exclusions. Scheme shall become available from a date to be notified.

Relief available under Scheme:

Sr. No	Details	Amount	Relief
A	Tax dues relatable to SCN or appeal arising out of such SCN which is Pending as on 30.06.2019 and the amount of duty is;	<50 Lakhs	70% of Tax dues
		>50 Lakhs	50% of Tax dues
B	Tax dues relatable to SCN for late fee or penalty only and the amount of duty has been paid or is nil	NIL	Entire amount of late fee or penalty
C	Tax Dues are relatable to amount in arrears* or Tax Dues are relatable to a mount in arrears and the declarant has indicated an amount of duty as payable but not paid it and the amount of duty involved is;	<50 Lakhs	60% of Tax dues
		>50 Lakhs	40% of Tax dues
D	Tax dues are linked to an enquiry, investigation or audit against the declarant and the amount quantified on or before 30th June	<50 Lakhs	70% of Tax dues
		>50 Lakhs	50% of Tax dues
E	Tax dues are on account of voluntary disclosure by the declarant	NIL	NO Relief

Important Definitions:

Sr. No	Scenario	Meaning of Tax Dues
A	Where a single appeal arising out of order is pending as on 30.06.2019	Total amount of duty which  is disputed
B	Where more than one appeal arising out of an order, one by the decedent and other a departmental appeal where such an appeal has not been heard finally on or before 30.06.2019	Sum total of amount disputed by both decedent and department
C	Where SCN has received on or before 30.06.2019	Amount of duty payable as per SCN
D	Where enquiry or investigation or audit is pending	Amount of duty payable which has been quantified on or before 30.06.2019

1. Amount in Arrears: It means the amount of duty which is recoverable as arrears of duty under the indirect tax enactment, on account of—

   1. no appeal having been filed by the declarant against an order or an order in appeal before expiry of the period of time for filing appeal; or

   2. an order in appeal relating to the declarant attaining finality; or

   3. the declarant having filed a return under the indirect tax enactment on or before the 30th day of June, 2019, wherein he has admitted a tax liability but not paid it.

2. Amount of Duty: It means the amount of central excise duty, the service tax and the cess payable under the indirect tax enactment.

3. Appellate Forum: It means the Supreme Court or the High Court or the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal or the Commissioner (Appeals).

4. Enquiry or Investigation: It includes search of premises, issuance of summons, requiring the production of accounts, documents or other evidence, recording of statements.

Eligibility and Exclusions:

All persons shall be eligible to make a declaration under this scheme except:

• where appeal filed before the appellate forum and final hearing has taken place on or before 30.06.2019.

• where SCN has been issued AND final hearing has taken place on or before 30.06.2019.

• who have been convicted for any offence under any provision for the matter for which he intends to file a declaration.

• who have been subjected to any enquiry or investigation or audit AND amount of duty involved has not been quantified on or before 30.06.2019.

• who have been issued a show cause notice for an erroneous refund or refund.

• persons making a voluntary disclosure (i) after being subjected to any enquiry or investigation or audit, or (ii) having filed a return wherein he has indicated an amount of duty as payable, but has not paid it.

• who have filed an application in the Settlement Commission.

• persons seeking to make declarations with respect to excisable goods set forth in the Fourth Schedule to the Central Excise Act, 1944.

 

The more this power of concentration,

the more knowledge is acquired, because this is the one and only method

of acquiring knowledge.

— Swami Vivekanand