Service Tax VCES 2013 - Nine Days to Nirvana - Departmental Officers Still Against
THERE seems to be no indication of any extension for the VCES and the Scheme will most probably come to an end by 31st.
While we are happy that we got the following mail from a Netizen,
To popularize the amnesty scheme VCES,2013 announced by Central Government, you at Taxindiaonline have done all out efforts to so that the scheme should reach to probable declarant. Because of your efforts, the scheme when entering in to last phase, has gathered momentum and will fetch maximum declaration under the scheme and end in success. Keep it up.
the fact remains that the Scheme is a failure -mainly because of the stiff opposition from the staff. Many of the prospective declarants have been driven away with threats of investigation, penalty and even arrest. This was a good money-making scheme for several officers who scared away the declarants and pocketed their own VCES collections. This was used as Intelligence/Information/Data by several officers to fix the assessees. The alacrity with which they issued Adjudication Orders, Show Cause Notices, Summons, letters seeking information from those who came to file declarations was alarmingly mind-boggling. How promptly can they act -to defeat a Government Scheme! When the brave among the declarants suggested to the Departmental officers that they have filed declarations/will file declarations under VCES, they are shouted down with, “Does the VCES bar any preventive enquiry?”
The Department has a scheme of giving 20 percent reward to informers. When they book cases based on the information filed by VCES declarants, they should give a 20 percent discount to the declarants.
We are told in one Commissionerate, they closed down the entire office (except VCES Section)on Friday and deployed all the officers for VCES campaign. Maybe this should be tried on a national level -at least prospective declarants will not be driven away by overzealous officers.