Writing off of tax arrears. - Income Tax - 1372/CBDT

INSTRUCTION NO. 1372/CBDT Dated: December 29, 1980 Schedule VII to the delegation of financial powers rules 1978 confers on the CsIT full powers to write off irrecoverable balances of income-tax/wealth-tax/gift tax/expenditure tax/estate duty demands subject to a report to the next higher authority. 2. At present copies of individual orders of write off exceeding Rs.1 lakh in each case are endorsed by the CsIT to the Board. However, reports in respect of cases upto Rs. 1 lakh are furnished in the Annual statement of Remission and Abandonment of claims to revenue. 3. It has been decided that individual cases sanctioning write off of income-tax arrears by the CsIT in cases exceeding Rs.10,000 and upto 1 lakh should also be endorsed to the Board. As a copy of such an order is required to be endorsed to the AG concerned even at present there may not be any significant increase in workload as a result of endorsing a copy of the same to the Board. Where a CIT passes orders of write off in a case with tax arrears of up Rs.10,000 a copy thereof should also be endorsed to the board. The limit for scaling down is where the total outstanding demand in a case was upto Rs.1 lakh. The copies of such orders already passed during the current financial year may also be endorsed to the Board. 4. It has also been decided that in future in all orders of write off passed by the CsIT without requiring the approval of the Board , brief reasons for the write off should also be indicated. For this purposes the proforma of CIT's order writing off the irrecoverable tax arrears given in Annexure IV to the booklet on write off should be amended suitably. 5. With regard to the tax arrears written off by the IACs copies of the individual orders will be endorsed by them to the respective CsIT who may see through a broad test check that the orders have been passed in accordance with the prescribed procedure. In so far as the orders passed by the ITOs are concerned, administrative supervision will be exercised by the IACs through the annual statement of Remission and abandonment of claims to revenue. 6. In respect of wealth-tax, gift-tax and estate duty separate instructions will be sent.