2015 (12) TMI 1785 - AT - Income Tax

Maintainability of appeal - monetary limit - tax effect involved in the appeals of the Revenue is less than ₹ 10 lac - Held that - There is no necessity for adjourning the appeals as the tax effect involved in the appeals of the Revenue is less than ₹ 10 lac the oral request was rejected. However, by way of abundant caution liberty is granted to the Revenue that in case on receipt of the order the Assessing Officer finds that the tax effect is above ₹ 10 lac or in any other manner the Circular is not applicable, he would be at liberty to file a Miscellaneous Application pointing out these facts. We also taking note of the concerns expressed by the ld.CIT, DR and make it clear that as a result of the dismissal of the Revenue s appeals on the ground of tax effect the said order would not act as a precedent where the tax effect is more in any subsequent or prior year where the Revenue would want to agitate the issues on similar grounds before the ITAT on merit. - Decided against revenue

Summary

Issues:
Revenue's appeal against CIT(A) orders with tax effect less than Rs. 10 lac.

Analysis:
1. The Revenue filed sixteen appeals challenging the orders of different CIT(A) offices where deletions were made with a tax effect less than Rs. 10 lac.

2. The Department, represented by CIT, DR, sought time to withdraw the appeals in compliance with the CBDT Circular due to the low tax effect. The Circular emphasized that such withdrawals should not set a precedent for future cases with higher tax effects.

3. In the absence of representation from the assessees, the Tribunal proceeded to consider the appeals based on the CBDT Circular.

4. The CBDT Circular No. 21 of 2015 revised the monetary limits for filing departmental appeals, setting the limit at Rs. 10 lac for appeals before the Appellate Tribunal. The Circular clarified that appeals should be filed based on merit, not solely on exceeding the monetary limits.

5. The Tribunal, after hearing the submissions of the ld. DR, rejected the oral request for adjournment as the tax effect was below Rs. 10 lac. The Tribunal granted liberty to the Revenue to file a Miscellaneous Application if the tax effect exceeded Rs. 10 lac upon receipt of the order.

6. The Tribunal emphasized that the dismissal of the Revenue's appeals based on the tax effect would not set a precedent for future cases with higher tax effects. The appeals were dismissed in accordance with the CBDT Circular, which is binding on the Revenue as per judicial precedents.

7. The Tribunal cited previous orders to support the dismissal of the appeals and declared that all appeals of the Revenue were dismissed.

This detailed analysis covers the issues raised in the judgment, the application of the CBDT Circular, the Tribunal's decision-making process, and the outcome of the appeals filed by the Revenue.