CIT (Appeals) to pass orders within a fortnight

MUMBAI: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has on June 19, issued internal instructions directing that all Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) should issue appellate orders within 15 days of the last hearing. It is stated that this directive shall also be applicable to orders passed by the CIT (Administration) as regards maters within their purview.
A similar instruction was issued earlier in December 2003, but was not strictly followed."The Board desires that appellate orders by CIT (Appeals) should be issued within 15 days of the last hearing. Any lapse on this account shall be viewed adversely," states the recently issued instruction.
TOI has reported earlier on June 15, that at an all-India level there are 232,126 appeals pending with CIT (Appeals) and the I-T department’s target is to clear 65% of such cases or 1,52,283 disputed cases by March 31, 2016. Appeals have been categorized into various baskets and the focus will be on disposal of almost all high value appeals (where the disputed demand is more than Rs. 10 lakh). Over 50,000 high-value appeal cases (52,017 to be precise), where the disputed I-T demand is Rs 10 lakh or more are pending as of April 1, 2015. The aim is to dispose of 46,817 such appeal cases during the year.
Several tax professionals and tax officials, are of the view that this time frame is unrealistic and may not be achieved. At the same time, no one denies that if issuance of orders is expedited, it will help both the taxpayers and the tax department.
When taxpayers dispute the income tax demands raised on them, a structured appeal process has to be followed. The first level of appeals lies with the CIT(A). The next level of appeal lies with the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal – an independent body, which is the final fact finding authority. Courts can subsequently be approached by the aggrieved party only if a question of law is involved.