The Centre is targeting the resolution of all 483,000 income tax-related legacy disputes worth Rs 9.32 lakh crore that are pending in various tribunals, and expects to unlock about 50% of the amount through its proposed one-time amnesty scheme Vivad se Vishwas , two officials said on Saturday.

In the Union budget presented on February 1, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the new scheme to resolve direct tax disputes. Under the scheme, penalty and interest will be waived if the disputed amount is paid before March 31, 2020.

“The target given to tax officials is to achieve 100% of the pending cases without any overreach, within the given time frame, which is March 31, extendable to June 30, 2020 with some additional amount,” one of the officials with direct knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.

The two officials said the scheme was announced in the budget in great detail so that taxpayers were mentally prepared and could act swiftly when the scheme was passed by Parliament. The proposed scheme is likely to be passed early next month, when Parliament convenes for the second part of its budget session. The session will resume from March 2 after a recess and continue till April 3.

The scheme will begin on the date on which provisions of the Direct Tax Vivad se Vishwas Bill come into force and will have deadlines as announced by the finance minister in the budget, the second official said on condition of anonymity.

In her budget speech in Parliament, Sitharaman said: “This year, I propose to bring a scheme similar to the indirect tax scheme ‘Sabka Vishwas’ for reducing litigations even in the direct taxes.” Presenting her first budget on July 5 last year, Sitharaman had proposed the ‘Sabka Vishwas’ legacy dispute resolution scheme for litigations related to excise and service tax. The scheme was implemented to reduce litigation in indirect taxes and it resulted in settling at least 189,000 cases.

The first official quoted above said: “The scheme is a great relief to both the taxpayers would like to settle the vexed matter and move ahead; and for the government, it will unlock huge tax revenue.”

The second official said tax disputes consume a large part of resources both on the part of government as well as taxpayers and also deprive the government of the timely collection of revenue.

“It is felt that there is an urgent need to provide for resolution of pending income-tax disputes. This will not only benefit the government by generating timely revenue but also the taxpayers, who will gain by deploying the savings on account of time and resources towards their business activities,” he said.