Sabka Vishwas Scheme Should Have Wider Reach: EEPC

Seeking the settlement of customs duty matters, Engineering Exporter Organisation EEPC India has called upon the centre to expand the scope of legacy dispute resolution scheme “Sabka Vishwas”.

EEPC India requested the government to include settlement of non-fulfillment of obligations under the EPCG and Advance Authorisation Schemes under the ''Sabka Vishwas'' ambit.

EEPC wrote a letter to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stated that the Sabka Vishwas Scheme 2019 for settlement of pending cases under Central Excise and Service Tax has resulted in "great success, giving a big relief to medium and small enterprises"

The letter also stated that "A similar scheme may be considered for settlement of customs duty matters including the settlement of non-fulfillment of obligations against EPCG and advance authorisation license granting a waiver of interest and penalty. This will be of great relief to the MSME Exporters,"

Further, EEPC India sought a tax dispensation for the MSME non-corporate exporters, similar to the corporates which have been rightly given major reduction in the corporate tax at 22 percent and a surcharge of 10 percent.

"The non-corporate MSMEs are still taxed at 30 percent and a surcharge of 12 per cent," it said.

"Most of the MSMEs are growing with internal accruals as they don't get much of the assistance from banks and financial institutions, as they cannot provide the collateral security to their satisfaction."

The Union Budget 2019-20 introduced the one-time amnesty scheme for central taxes. But it was available only for settling GST related disputes.

Besides, the exporters'' body urged the government to extend the benefit of a 15 percent tax rate to the existing MSME manufacturing units apart from the companies which are registered on or after October 1, 2019.