By : Nitesh Bhandare ( Assistant Commissioner of State Tax ) Maharashtra Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest, Penalty or Late Fee Ordinance ,2019 By : Nitesh Bhandare ( Assistant Commissioner of State Tax )

Salient features of the Act . No appeal required . Much wider in scope :Dues covered : Statutory dues , return dues , asked to pay , Late fees , Unassessed dues . URD eligible to apply . Two phases . Covers pending assessments as well . Covers all Tax statutes governed by hitherto MSTD for all the periods prior to GST .

Important Definitions -2 Disputed Tax : the tax other than un-disputed tax as defined in clause (q) Arrears of tax ,interest , penalty or late fee. : a) amt. payable as per statutory order . b) admitted in return but remains un-paid wholly or partly . c) Recommended to be payable by the auditor in audit report. d) Dues out of notice under any proceeding . e) Determined to be payable by the assesse where no notice issued.

Important Definitions -3 1. Un-disputed tax: i) Taxes collected separately or allowed as tax deduction in AO or deduction as per rule 57 ii) Taxes shown as payable in Return or revised return iii) Asked to pay accepted by the dealer iv) Amount forfeited under the statutory order or excess tax collection as per 704 . v) TDS and TCS amount .

Important Definitions -4 Requisite amount : Amount required to be paid for settlement as per Annexure A and Annexure B . A) amount paid between 1.04.2019 to 30.06.2019 for Phase I B) amount paid between 1.07.2019 to 31.07.2019 for Phase II

Other important provisions Payment Adjustment : Payment made before 01.04.2019 to be adjusted as per section 5 ( TIPL) Partial payment of Requisite Amount allowed.. proportionate benefit to be allowed . For statutory dues and return dues : Orders passed and returns filed or revised before 15.07.2019 are eligible for waiver. Statutory dues generated out of Set off disallowance and additional demand on account of declarations /certificates are to be treated as “ Disputed Tax “ Statutory Order dues generated out of considering “Un-disputed Tax “ are not eligible for waiver .

Other important features. Statutory dues generated out of Set off disallowance and additional demand on account of declarations /certificates are to be treated as “ Disputed Tax “ Statutory Order dues generated out of considering “Un-disputed Tax “ are not eligible for waiver . No waiver in case of revised returns filed after commencement of the Act resulting into reduction of tax payable due to adjustment of ITC. Reduction due to actual tax payment allowed . Pending Remand Back cases (Section 7(5) ) GST Transitional credit to be reversed before applying for amnesty with respect of the period from which credit flowed to GST Credit ledger .