Income Tax Appellate Tribunal

Why in news?

• The government has appointed judicial and technical members at the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), amid the Supreme Court flagging concerns about vacancies in various tribunals.

 About Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT):

• The ITAT is a quasi-judicial body set up by the Central Government to deal with appellate matters under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• The ITAT functions under the Ministry of Law and Justice.
• There are different benches of the ITAT for different regions having regional jurisdiction.
  • Presently ITAT has 63 Benches at 27 different stations covering almost all the cities having a seat of the High Court.
• The President of the ITAT constitutes a bench of an ITAT from amongst the members of the ITAT.
• Each bench shall consist of an accountant member and a judicial member.
• The orders passed by the ITAT are final; an appeal lies to the High Court only if a substantial question of law arises for determination.
• ITAT is referred to as 'Mother Tribunal' being the oldest Tribunal in the country.

Functions of the ITAT:

• Income Tax Appellate Tribunal hears appeals concerning orders passed by the income-tax authorities.
• It is the second forum to hear income-tax appeals after the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals).
• The ITAT functions under the supervision of the jurisdictional High Court and is subordinate to the High Court.
• The ITAT is bound to follow the precedent or law laid by the High Court and Supreme Court in a matter it is dealing with in appeal.

Monetary limits applicable to the filing of appeals:

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) can fix the monetary limits to regulate the filing of appeal or application or reference to the ITAT, jurisdictional High Court or Supreme Court.
• The instruction for filing appeals by the income tax department before the ITAT, High Courts or Supreme Courts as follows:
  • Before the ITAT – Rs 50 lakh.
  • Before the High Court – Rs 1 crore.
  • Before the Supreme Court – Rs 2 crore.

Time available for filing an appeal

• The time allowed to file an appeal is 60 days from the date of communication of the order, which is the subject matter of the appeal.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Consider the following statements regarding ‘Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT)’:

1. It functions under the supervision of the jurisdictional High Court.

2. Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) can fix the monetary limits to regulate the filing of appeal to the ITAT.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer