Government raises monetary limit for filling appeals relating to tax cases - (11 Jul 2018)

Civil

In order to reduce litigation in both direct and indirect tax matters, the Central Government raises monetary limit for filling appeals by the Department before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, High Courts and SLPs/appeals before Supreme Court. The move by the Government would minimise litigations pertaining to tax case and would facilitate the Ease of Doing Business, Henceforth, appeals/ SLPs shall not be filed in cases where the tax effect does not exceed the monetary limits as prescribed . However, issues involving substantial questions of law would be contested irrespective of prescribed monetary limits.

The tax Department can now file appeals in ITAT/CESTAT only if the tax amount involved is Rs 20 lakh or more. Appeals would be filed in High Courts, if the tax amount involved in litigation is Rs 50 lakh. For appeals in Supreme Court, the threshold limit has been hiked to Rs 1 crore. Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said in a public statement that, move is to create trust in the tax administration and give relief to honest, small and mid-sized taxpayers. The move will result in 41 per cent reduction in overall tax cases. The decision would be significant in terms of reducing minor litigations and in helping the department to focus on high-value litigations.

Earlier, the tax department could file appeals in ITAT/CESTAT, if the tax amount involved Rs 10 lakh, in High Courts if the tax amount involved is Rs 20 lakh. For appeals in Supreme Court, the threshold limit is Rs 25 lakh. Now with the changed limits as per the Government’s decision, Withdrawal process in respect of pending cases in above forums, as per the revised limits, would follow.

Tags : TAX MATTERS FILING LIMITS