Taxpayers' appeals in ITAT must mention amount locked up in dispute

Income tax payers filing appeals before ITAT will have to provide information relating to the amount locked up in dispute along with a brief case history and the relief claimed.

The Income Tax Department today came out with a draft notification saying it is amending Form 36, 36A and Rule 47 under the I-T Act to seek information about pending disputes with a view to reframing its litigation policy.

The form for filing appeals to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) is being amended after 25 years. The last amendment was made in 1993.

"The information regarding the amount disputed in appeal is vital for designing the policy of the department for litigation management. Therefore, in order to capture the recent developments, it is imperative to rationalise these Forms, so as to make these forms descriptive and informative," the department said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has invited stakeholder comments on the draft by July 2.

As per the draft, the tax payers filing appeal before ITAT will have to provide details of pending litigation in a prescribed format.

The applicant would also have to give details of penalty disputed in appeal.

In case an appeal in relation to any other assessment year is pending in the case of the appellant with any bench of the Appellate Tribunal, the applicant would have to give details of the Bench of Appellate Tribunal, with whom the appeal is pending as also the Appeal No. and date of filing of appeal.