Hyderabad: The positive response to the Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme had made Central tax officials happy, but they are facing a dilemma now. Almost a quarter of assesses under the VCES have not filed their tax deposit receipts with the local office of the Central Board of Customs and Excise.
VCES declarations worth about Rs 330 crore were made in Hyderabad, but actual receipts realised are much less, of Rs 170 crore.
The government had offered VCES amnesty for service tax defaulters allowing them to voluntarily declare their service tax dues. The scheme mandated assesses to pay at least 50 per cent of their declared dues.
Sources said many of the assesses voluntarily paid more than the minimum 50 per cent of the declaration, but several have not deposited their receipts. “The declaration forms of VCES have to be submitted here and payments made in the bank against the account of the CBEC. But many skipped the submission of the receipts,” said a source.
This has put the officials in a dilemma as they cannot take action against the assesses as they are covered under the VCES.
