Seeking information from client for drafting appeal before ITAT, against order of CIT(A)

[C.A. DEV KUMAR KOTHARI]

Seeking information from client for drafting appeal against order of CIT(A):

For drafting of an appeal to be filed before ITAT against any order passed by the CIT(A) necessary information is required to be gathered from the client. In this article an attempt is made to prepare a model letter to be given to client for seeking relevant information.

While seeking information some information for preparation of case to be represented before ITAT will also be gathered. The client, his executives, other consultants who represented the client on similar matters in relevant year and some other years or before other authorities are the best persons who can provide these details and information. Even in case of regular clients, lot of information may not be available with tax consultant and the information is required to be obtained. In any case a latest update on issues, in the case of client, can be best provided by the client.

Expertise and responsibility is shared:

By seeking and sharing information from client in a proper and systematic manner, besides better drafting of appeal expertise of client on facts and developments and peculiar knowledge he has of his case and responsibility is also shared.

Open channel of communication:

Seeking information and views of client also instill concept of open and two way communication between professional and client and his team. That helps in taking work in a team spirit.

The series:

In this series of articles author wish to write several articles, the first one, hosted on 21.05.2010 was about seeking information in case of departmental appeal. The second article, webhosted on 31.05.2010 was about seeking information from client when an appeal filed by client is to be prepared. Now the third article is to seek information required to prepare and draft appeal documents for filing appeal before ITAT, against order passed by CIT(A).

Relevant provisions:

The articles in this series will contain only guiding material and information. While preparing list of information sought, the consultant need to see relevant provisions, and seek necessary additional information. Some information included in the list may not be relevant in all cases, in that case the client can be asked to write not applicable NA. The letter and questionnaire need to be modified suitably depending on the law under which appeal is to be filed.

Draft letter to assessee / tax payer when information and documents are sought to draft an appeal to be filed by assessee before ITAT, against an order of the CIT(A).

M/s. …. Assessee,

Dear Mr./Ms. (Tax Manager)

Drafting of appeal before ITAT, against order of the CIT(A) for Assessment Year …….

Please refer to discussion we had. I append below preliminary requirement of documents and information required to draft an appeal to b e filed before ITAT against order of the CIT(A).

Besides a physical file please send me documents by email or CD/ pen drive in soft form, as far as possible.

Complete physical file may be sent with flags on relevant documents and highlights for a review.

GENERAL REQUIREMENT FOR DRAFTING OF APPEAL TO BE FILED BY ASSESSEE BEFORE ITAT

The following documents are required for review of matter and drafting of appeal:

Description	To be sent by client ref. of particular page nos.	Remarks of client	My Remarks
Details of order of CIT(A): Date of order: Order received on: 60 days from date of receipt:
Information in form no. 36			I attach a draft form 36, with information known to me filled in please check them and fill in information about other matters.
Documents required:
Copy of order of CIT(A)
Copy of assessment order/ order against which appeal is to be filed.
Additions, disallowances, and other aspects to be challenged.- please highlights the same in working copy of order of CIT(A) and the assessment order/ other order of the AO.
A reconciliation of income / loss as per return and as per assessment order, relief allowed by CIT(A) and point of differences remaining after order of CIT(A).
Relevant documents and written submission before CIT(A) and the AO on issues against which appeal is intended.
Whether, revenue has also filed any appeal in form 36 / or is likely to file an appeal against the same order of CIT(A) ? In that case assessee can file an appeal by way of Cross Objections in form 36A and save payment of appeal fees.
Computation of income, revised computation of income, additional claims etc. filed before AO.
Annual Report,
Tax audit report.
About points of disputes:
A.     Any earlier order of CIT(A) , ITAT/ HC/ SC in favor of assessee with present status. B.     Any earlier order of AO in favor of assessee. Whether this has attained finality or some other proceedings are pending. C.     Any development on similar issues after AO passed the order. Or any new information which is relevant to the issue in hand.
Challan for appeal fees- amount - please send your calculations and then discuss before payment.

Note:

The documents/ sheets, relevant paragraphs, matters relevant to the appeal to be represented may be highlighted/ flagged.

Extract from written submission, order of AO about relevant issues may be prepared. Under heading- extract from……. Relevant to appeal before ITAT.

A brief note / summary may be provided.

An index of documents may be prepared indicating subject matter and pages nos. where document is found in the file.

Please provide all documents and details and information as early as possible.

Regards,

Yours sincerely,

Tax consultant.

Request from readers:

The third article in the series contains some new general points which were not found in my first and second article in this series. The process of discussions, feed backs and improving and standardization is a continuous process. The readers have varied and rich experience, therefore, by actively participating to discuss these article they can add value to the content for all readers. Besides the name of person who send feedback and help to improve content is also webhosted so his contribution is well recognized.

Therefore, I again request learned readers to send their feed back to improve the procedure and collection of information for better drafting of documents and preparation of cases in the overall interest of professionals, clients and revenue to present cases in better manner.