Chandigarh- Haryana Chief Minister Sh. Nayab Singh Saini said a transparent and equitable taxation system is essential for economic prosperity and good governance in the state. If the tax system is simple and effective, then traders, entrepreneurs and investors benefit and economic activities grow rapidly.
The Chief Minister was speaking as the chief guest at a function organized on the occasion of the launch of 'One Time Settlement Scheme-2025' in Kurukshetra today.
The Chief Minister said the One Time Settlement Scheme-2025 will provide great relief to thousands of taxpayers, especially small shopkeepers, entrepreneurs and traders. This scheme will give an opportunity to taxpayers to make a new beginning by freeing them from the old financial burden.
He said the One Time Settlement Scheme-2025 is for those taxpayers of Haryana who could not pay the outstanding amount of their taxes due to various reasons. Under this scheme, taxpayers with dues up to Rs 10 lakh will get a rebate of up to Rs 1 lakh.
This scheme will remain open for the coming 180 days i.e. 6 months. He appealed to the taxpayers to pay their dues as soon as possible.
He said the state government had started a dispute resolution programme to solve the problems of people of all sections, under which various departments started schemes with different names. The One Time Settlement Scheme-2025 is also a part of the same series.
He said the Excise and Taxation Department of Haryana was facing great difficulty in recovering the outstanding taxes due to various reasons. Therefore, we implemented the 'One Time Settlement Scheme' to reduce the outstanding taxes and litigation and expedite the recovery of outstanding amounts. While implementing this scheme will provide relief to taxpayers, it will also increase revenue collection.
He said earlier also a one-time settlement scheme was introduced in 2023, but there were some obstacles in that scheme. Now, those obstacles have been removed in the new scheme. There is no classification of outstanding tax in One-time Settlement Scheme-2025. This scheme will be based on the cumulative assessed outstanding amount. Under it, there will be complete exemption from penalty amount and interest amount.
He said in this scheme, the government has created three slabs for the payment of outstanding taxes for the convenience of taxpayers. For payment of cumulative assessed outstanding tax up to Rs 10 lakh, the taxpayer will have to pay 40 per cent amount after deducting the exemption of up to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 10 lakh. For cumulative assessed outstanding tax liabilities of more than Rs 10 lakh and up to Rs 10 crore, the taxpayer will have to pay 50 per cent of the amount. Similarly, the taxpayer will have to pay 100 per cent of the cumulative assessed outstanding tax liabilities of more than Rs 10 crore.
Not only this, taxpayers with settlement amount of more than Rs 10 lakh outstanding tax have been given the option to make payment in two installments.
Chief Minister Sh. Nayab Singh Saini said that whoever opts for this scheme will not have to face any kind of amendment in the outstanding tax liability. Under this scheme, the government has given concessions to small as well as big traders. Due to this, there is a safe and favorable environment for traders in the state to do their business honestly.
The Chief Minister said some new initiatives have been taken in the GST rules. Now, for the convenience of taxpayers, the audits of the last three to four years to be done under Section 65 of Haryana GST Act, 2017 will be done in one go. Due to this, traders will not have to visit the department again and again. Similarly, to increase transparency, the government has decided to install CCTV cameras in every ETO and DETC office rooms.
He said other suggestions received include GST exemption on agricultural equipment, automation of GST refund, annual self-assessment instead of monthly and increasing the limit of issuing bills from Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore. The Haryana Government will recommend these suggestions to the GST Council.
He said the state government is in favour of reforms and every possible effort has been made to solve the problems of traders. Policies have been simplified by taking suggestions from traders. Traders have an important contribution in the development of the state. The government is fully aware of their interests. There has been a 28 per cent increase in GST collection from Haryana in the country. This growth rate is at the top among the big states.
He said that for the convenience of traders and taxpayers, a tax bhawan has been constructed in Rewari at a cost of Rs 29 crore. GST Facilitation Centres have been started in all 27 GST offices at a cost of Rs 29 crore. Similarly, a Startup GST Facilitation Cell has been started in Gurugram and MSME GST Cell in Panchkula.
He said that the government has increased the commission of the commission agents on the purchase of paddy from Rs 46 per quintal to Rs 55 per quintal. So far, an amount of Rs 309 crore has been released to the commission agents.
The Chief Minister said during the Kharif year 2024-25 in the state, all the rice millers have been given a bonus of over Rs 62 crore as incentive till August 31, 2024 for custom milled rice delivery in the state.
Similarly, the revised ‘Mukhyamantri Vyapari Kshatipurti Yojana’ has been started to compensate for the loss of life and property of traders in natural disasters. Under the 'Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maandhan Yojana', monthly pension has been ensured for retailers and shopkeepers. For the welfare of small and medium traders, they have been brought under the MSME Department.
He said the objective of the government in starting this scheme is not only to collect tax but also to accelerate development through a fair tax system. This scheme will not only increase revenue but will also strengthen people's trust in the government.
MLA Pawan Kharkhoda, Principal Secretary of Excise and Taxation Department Sh. Devinder Singh Kalyan, Commissioner of Excise and Taxation Department Sh. Vinay Pratap Singh, former MLA Subhash Sudha and representatives of various industry associations were present on the occasion.