Company Suo-Moto Admits Demat Compliance Default: MCA Penalizes Company, Directors, CFO, CS and...

The Madras High Court has ruled that the benefits of the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019, are not available for cases where the taxpayer has made a voluntary disclosure after already admitting the tax liability in their filed returns. The court held that the SVLDR scheme was intended to resolve legacy disputes where the tax amount was contested or under investigation. It was not meant for situations where the tax has been self-assessed and admitted by the taxpayer in their own returns but has not been paid. The court stated that such non-payment of admitted tax does not constitute a "dispute" in the legal sense. This judgment provides an important clarification on the eligibility criteria for the scheme, preventing its use as a mechanism to settle undisputed and admitted tax dues.