Maharashtra Govt. announces Amnesty Scheme for pre-GST arrears, reduces VAT on ATF

Maharashtra Govt introduces ‘Maharashtra Settlement of Arrears of Tax, Interest, Penalty or Late Fee Act, 2023’ as an Amnesty Scheme to grant full/partial waiver of arrears pending as on May 1, 2023 in respect of various laws implemented before GST enactment; Presenting Maharashtra Budget 2023-2024, the State FinMin and Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis enumerated the following key features of the said scheme, viz. (i) Complete waiver of the arrears in cases where arrears are Rs. 2,00,000  or less per year, (ii)  80% waiver for  Dealers having arrears up to Rs. 50 lakhs or less as per statutory order, who will then have to pay only 20%, (ii) Scheme will be in force from May 1, 2023 to October 31, 2023; Other indirect tax sops include reduction of VAT on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF)  from 25% to 18%; Also, proposes waiver of professional tax for female employees drawing a monthly salary of upto Rs 25,000.