Well, Yes Friends, it has been about 5 months since the PAN India rolling out of the Faceless Appeal Scheme, 2020 implemented w.e.f. 25.9.2020, but to date not even one single Faceless Appeal Order has churned out of the new regime of faceless appeal.
The primary reason for this delay in disposing of the appeals by the CIT(Appeals) even in the Faceless Appeal Regime is perceived to be this Vivad se Vishwas (VsV) Settlement Window. It is being said that the appeals of assessees are not being disposed of till the time this VsV Settlement window remains open, so as to mobilise as much revenue as possible out of this VsV settlement window.
It is being said that the Appeals before the CIT(Appeals) are just being lingered on since last year from March 2020, when 31.3.2020 was the last date for this VsV window. The dates in VsV window have been extended time and again during the corona pandemic. The last extension was till February 28, 2021, by CBDT Notification No. 85/2021 dated 27.10.2020.
Now, CBDT vide its Notification No. 9/2021 dated February 26, 2021, has further extended the Due Dates under the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Act, 2020 as under:
(i) The Last Date for Filing Electronic Declaration Form 1 for Opting under the VsV Scheme has been further extended from 28.2.2021 to 31.3.2021.
(ii) The Last Date for Making Payment of 100% of the Disputed Tax in non-search cases and 125% in search cases (i.e. without additional payment) has been further extended from 31.3.2021 to 30.4.2021.
(iii) The Starting Date for Making Payment of 110% of the Disputed Tax in non-search cases and 135% in search cases (i.e. with an additional payment) has been further extended from 1.4.2021 to 1.5.2021.
Therefore, in view of these further extensions, it appears that the assessee will have to wait further for the disposal of their pending appeals before the CIT (Appeals) in the Faceless Appeal Regime.
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