Filing of appeals by the Department after insertion of Section 158AB in the Income Tax Act, 1961 - Income Tax - F. No. 279/Misc./M-93/2018-ITJ(Pt.)

F. No. 279/Misc./M-93/2018-ITJ(Pt.) Government of India Ministry of Finance Department of Revenue Central Board of Direct Taxes Room No. 12, 5th Floor, Jeevan Vihar Building, Parliament Street, New Delhi. Dated: 29th September, 2022 To, All the Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax Subject: - Filing of appeals by the Department after insertion of Section 158AB in the Income Tax Act, 1961 - reg. Ref: - Board's letter F. No. 279/Misc.142/2007-ITJ(Pt.) dated 20.08.2018. Kind reference is drawn to the above. The Board has from time-to-time revised monetary thresholds for filing appeals before various judicial fora. The last such revision was through Circular No. 17/2019 dated 08.08.2019 . Exceptions to the monetary limits are as per Board's letter referred to above. 2. In this respect the insertion of Section 158AB in the Income Tax Act, 1961 [hereinafter referred to as the Act] has led to queries on the monetary limits and exceptions applicable in respect of cases falling within the purview of Section 158AB of the Act. A collegium, as constituted in the manner laid down in Order No. F. No. 370133/13/2022-TPL dated 28.09.2022, shall decide on deferment of appeals before the Appellate Tribunal or the jurisdictional High Court by the Assessing Officer u/s 158AB . In this connection the following may be noted for necessary compliance. 3. The following terminology is proposed in respect of para 4 below: (i) D : cumulative tax effect (in Rs.) of the disputed demand of the grounds for which appeal is sought to be deferred i.e., where identical question of law is pending as per section 158AB of the Act. (ii) R : cumulative tax effect (in Rs.) of the disputed demand of the grounds where appeal persists on merits i.e., other than D above (i.e., the residual grounds) (iii) T : the monetary threshold (in Rs.) for filing appeal as per Circular No. 17/2019 dated 08.08.2019 (the Circular) (iv) Y 0 : the current year in which appeal filing is under consideration, and (v) Y f : the year in which the final decision on the question of law is received in favour of Revenue in the other case (other case being as referred to in section 158AB of the Act). 4. Scenarios on the applicability of monetary limits: (i) In cases where only one ground is contested and section 158AB is applicable to it, appeal may be deferred in the current year ( Y 0 ) in view of the provisions of section 158AB . The appeal is to be filed in the year in which the final decision jn the identical question of law is received in favour of Revenue in Y f . (ii) In cases where multiple grounds are contested and section 158AB is applicable only to certain grounds, the guidelines for filing appeal are as follows: (A) where the total tax effect of all the disputed grounds (i.e., grounds to which section 158AB is applicable and otherwise) is greater than the monetary threshold as per the circular, i.e., [ D+R T ], (a) in the current year (Y 0 ), i. filing of appeal on the grounds to which section 158AB is applicable may be deferred in view of the provisions of that section, and ii. appeal may be filed on the residual grounds. (b) in the year in which the final decision on the identical question of law is received in favour of Revenue in Y f , appeal is to be filed on the grounds to which section 158AB is applicable. (B) where the total tax effect of all the disputed grounds (i.e., grounds to which section 158AB is applicable and otherwise) is less than the monetary threshold as per the circular, i.e., [ D+R T ], (a) in the current year (Y 0 ), i. filing of appeal on the grounds to which section 158AB is applicable may be deferred in view of the provisions of that section, and ii. appeal may not be filed on the residual grounds. (b) in Y f, the year in which the final decision on the identical question of law is received in favour of Revenue, appeal is to be filed on the grounds to which section 158AB is applicable. 5. The above shall come into effect from the date of issue of this letter and may be brought to the knowledge of all officers working in your region. 6. This issues with the approval of Chairman, CBDT. Yours Sincerely (Tanay Sharma) DCIT(OSD)ITJ-I