Ahmedabad gets special bench for international taxation

Ahmedabad: The Income Tax Apellate Tribunal (ITAT) of Ahmedabad is getting a new bench to hear cases on matters of international taxation. This will be the third bench of international taxation in the country, with Delhi and Mumbai already having one each.
ITAT Ahmedabad already has four benches. The new bench on international taxation will begin day-to-day hearing of cases from Monday.
"There are a lot of cases related to international taxation and transfer pricing, which are pending for a long time.This bench will help clear pendency at a higher rate. We will be putting selected judicial members on this bench, who are experts on international taxation and transfer pricing," said an ITAT official.
According to details available, around 25 major appeals of tax are pending with the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP).
The DRP deals in cases related to law pertaining to double taxation, international taxation and transfer-pricing. These 25 cases involve two individuals and 23 companies, including big business houses from Gujarat, as well as MNCs which have interests in pharmaceutical, petrochemical, healthcare and engineering sectors.
"These days, more and more companies are expanding businesses to foreign countries. Each country has different taxation rules. This leads to conflict sometimes that results in litigations. In the comings days, cases related to international taxation will only increase. Hence the need for the special bench," said an ITAT official.
Overall, more than 12,000 tax cases, the third-highest in the country, are pending with the ITAT in Ahmedabad. In total, there are one lakh tax litigations pending in various ITATs across India. More than 50% of them are in ITATs of Mumbai, Delhi and Ahmedabad.