Over Rs 3 lakh cr of direct taxes locked up in litigation: CAG

Over Rs 3 lakh crore in direct taxes, which is more than the annual corporate tax collection, is locked up in litigation at various levels.

While Rs 2.2 lakh crore of revenue was locked up in appeal cases with Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) in 2009-10, the amount involved in litigation at the higher levels was Rs 91,087 crore, said the latest CAG report.

"The amount locked up in appeal cases with CIT (A) was Rs 2.2 lakh crore in 2009-10," said the report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

It added that Rs 2.2 lakh crore locked up in appeals with CIT (A) is equivalent to 66.9% of the revised revenue deficit of Government of India.

The total amount locked up in such cases was about Rs 3.1 lakh crore, which was more than corporate tax collection of Rs 2.4 lakh crore and about two-and-half times the income tax realisation of Rs 1.32 lakh crore in 2009-10.

As per the norms, each CIT (Appeal) is required to dispose of a minimum of 60 appeals per month and a total of 720 appeals annually.

"Thus 1.1 lakh appeals could have been disposed of during the year on the basis of the working strength of 151 CIT (Appeals)," the CAG report said.

During 2009-10, the CIT (A) was required to dispose of 2,60,700 cases. Of this, only 0.8 lakh (30.6%) were disposed of.