The Amnesty scheme 2024, meant to dispose of decades-old tax arrears under pre-GST tax regimes, will come into effect on August 1, the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Department said on Wednesday.
At the same time, the formal inauguration of the scheme planned at the Ayyankali Hall in Thiruvananthapuram stands cancelled in view of the landslides in Wayanad district, the department said.
The tax arrears resolution scheme, announced in the 2024-25 State Budget, is expected to benefit the trade sector.
The arrears date back to the period from 1960-61 to 2017-18. Arrears under the pre-GST Kerala Value Added Tax Act, Kerala Agricultural Income Tax Act, Kerala General Sales Tax Act, Kerala Tax on Luxuries Act, and Kerala Surcharge on Taxes Act will be considered for the scheme. Tax, turnover tax and compounding tax related to liquor sales under the General Sales Tax will not come under its ambit.
The amnesty scheme has four slabs: In the first slab, tax arrears up to โน50,000 will be written off entirely. In the second slab, dealing with arrears ranging from โน50,000 to โน10 lakh, defaulters need pay only 30% of the arrears. For arrears between โน10 lakh and โน1 crore (third slab), there are two schemes, defaulters need pay only 40% of the tax amount for cases under appeal and 50% for others. For tax arrears above โน 1 crore (slab-4), 70% for cases under appeal and 80% for the rest.
December 31, 2024 is the deadline for joining the amnesty scheme. But the aforementioned concessions will be available to applications filed within 60 days of the launch of the scheme, the State GST Department said. Those who apply after the 60-day deadline, but before December 31, will be eligible for lesser concessions which will be notified by the government at a later date.
