Dossier reports of cases of tax arrears of more then Rs.10lacs. - Income Tax - 1825/1989

INSTRUCTION NO. 1825/1989 Dated: August 28, 1989 In order to effectively monitor the recovery of arrears in bigger cases, quarterly dossier reports in cases of arrears of more than Rs.10 lakhs have been prescribed. These reports are to be sent by Assessing Officers to their Commissioners/Chief Commissioners. A copy of this report is to be sent to the Director if Income-tax(Recovery) by the end of the month following the quarter. The progress of recovery work is to be reviewed by the commissioner/Chief Commissioner on the basis of the information furnished in the dossier reports. 2. The C AG of India in his report for the period 1986-87 has pointed out that dossier reports on cases with arrears of tax exceeding Rs.10 lakhs are not being sent by the assessing officers promptly. The audit has noticed that reports were not sent in some cases even for 2-3 years after the demands were raised. In some cases where reports were sent discrepancies were noticed between the amount of arrears in the reports and the amount of arrears as per record. 3. The irregularities noticed by the Audit are of serious nature and are obviously due to laxity on the part of the officers concerned. Such an attitude will defeat the very purpose of the dossier system of review. Besides these reports are relied upon even for the purposes of replying to Parliament questions. Therefore the importance of dossier reports cannot be over emphasized. All concerned should ensure that there are no factual errors in the reports. Despite this if errors are noticed the Chief Commissioners should fix responsibility and take suitable action. 4. The Director of Income-tax (Recovery) has reported that there is inordinate delay in the receipt of dossier reports. This indicates that there is similar delay in receipt of these reports by CIT/CCIT. Such delays will effect the timely review which is so important for achieving arrear reduction/collection. Further while sending reports it should be ensured that no column of the report is left blank. If a particular column is not applicable, it should be clearly indicated so. It is once again emphasised that quarterly dossier reports should be sent in every case and within the stipulated time.