2021 (3) TMI 1384 - AT - Income Tax

Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme - HELD THAT - We are of the opinion that there is no necessity of keeping this matter alive since the assessee has already applied for settlement of dispute under the Scheme. Consequently, the appeal filed by the Revenue is liable to the dismissed as such. However, liberty is granted to the Revenue to seek restoration of this appeal in the event the application filed under Vivad Se Vishwas Tax Scheme is not accepted by the Department. As further made clear that in such eventuality if the Revenue seeks restoration of the present appeal by filing misc. application, the delay, if any, should be condoned without insisting upon filing any application for condonation of delay. With the aforesaid observations, the appeal is dismissed.

Summary

Issues:
- Appeal filed by Revenue challenging order dated 14th December 2018
- Assessee filed declaration under Vivad Se Vishwas Tax Scheme, 2020
- Consideration of settlement under the Scheme
- Dismissal of the appeal by Revenue
- Liberty granted to Revenue for restoration of the appeal

Analysis:
1. The appeal was filed by the Revenue to challenge the order dated 14th December 2018 related to the assessment year 2013-14. During the hearing, it was noted that the assessee had filed a letter dated 9th October 2020 along with the acknowledgment in Form-1 and 2 under the Vivad Se Vishwas Tax Scheme, 2020. The assessee sought an adjournment as they had applied for settling the tax dispute under the Scheme. The Departmental Representative did not object to this submission.

2. After considering the submissions and perusing the material on record, it was observed that the assessee had indeed applied for settling the dispute under the Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, 2020. Consequently, the Tribunal opined that there was no need to continue with the matter since the assessee had already sought settlement under the Scheme. Therefore, the appeal filed by the Revenue was deemed liable to be dismissed.

3. However, the Tribunal granted liberty to the Revenue to seek restoration of the appeal in case the application filed under the Vivad Se Vishwas Tax Scheme was not accepted by the Department. It was explicitly stated that if the Revenue wished to restore the appeal by filing a miscellaneous application due to the rejection of the Scheme application, any delay should be condoned without requiring a separate application for condonation of delay. The appeal was ultimately dismissed, with the order pronounced in the open court on 17.03.2021.