Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may get some satisfaction on limiting the fiscal deficit but a niggling item in her account book is the surge in amount under the head ‘Tax Revenue Raised but Not Realised’. The figures are high enough for experts to anticipate another amnesty scheme on the lines of Vivad Se Viswas (VsV) and Sabka Vishwas Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme (SVLDRS) this year.
Budget documents total amount under the head, ‘Tax Revenue Raised but Not Realised (Principal Taxes)’ was around ₹8.72-lakh crore at the end of Fiscal Year 2016-17 which surged to over ₹16-lakh crore at the end of FY21. Gross amount is categorised into two – amounts under dispute and amount not under dispute. In the first category, amounts are stuck due to ongoing litigations. Though most of the cases are 1-2 year-old, some cases are going on for over 10 years. Second category is related to matters where there are no assets or inadequate asset for recovery or even assessee not traceable. On an average, three fourth of gross amount belongs to the first category.
VsV was launched in 2020 to provide for dispute resolution in respect of pending income tax litigation while SVLDRS was lunched in 2019. According to Parliament question answers and PIB release, under VsV, Government got over ₹54,000 crore, while SVLDRS led to recovery of around ₹28,000 crore.