22 august 2024 :On Tuesday, Punjab’s Finance and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema announced that a total of 70,311 dealers have benefited from the One Time Settlement Scheme-3 (OTS-3), which was initiated by the state government in November 2023 to address and simplify longstanding tax issues.
Cheema highlighted that the OTS-3 scheme contributed ₹164.35 crore to the state treasury. He noted that this figure significantly surpasses the revenue generated by the previous OTS-1 and OTS-2 schemes, which collectively brought in only ₹13.15 crore from 31,768 cases.
The minister further explained that 50,903 dealers with outstanding dues of up to ₹1 lakh received a complete waiver of tax, interest, and penalties under OTS-3, resulting in a total waiver amounting to ₹221.75 crore. Additionally, 19,408 dealers with arrears ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹1 crore benefited from a full waiver of interest and penalties, along with a 50% reduction in tax, leading to an overall waiver of ₹644.46 crore.
Cheema stated that the scheme encompassed cases up to the assessment year 2016-17, with arrears not exceeding ₹1 crore. Dealers participating in OTS-3 were required to submit original statutory forms in accordance with the CST Act of 1956, and the waivers were calculated based on these submissions. Moreover, applicants were given the option to submit supplementary statutory declaration forms, which further decreased their tax liabilities, he added.