The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified an e-Appeals Scheme aimed at reducing pendency of appeals at the level of income tax commissioners.
The scheme which is effective from Monday seeks to delegate appeals to officers in the rank of joint commissioners and additional commissioners.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in the union budget for FY24 that to reduce the pendency of appeals at Commissioner level, about 100 Joint Commissioners will be deployed for disposal of small appeals.
Accordingly, section 246 of the Income Tax Act dealing with appeals was amended this year. The new authority created in the rank of joint commissioners and additional commissioners to handle appeals is expected to expedite disposal of appeals against orders of lower authorities. The Finance Act of 2023 also made other consequential amendments to roll out the scheme.
The Finance Act, 2023 introduced the post of Joint Commissioner (Appeals) with the goal of distribution of the appeal workload of the Commissioner (Appeals) as appeals are now faceless under the Faceless Appeal Scheme of 2021, explained Sandeep Sehgal, Partner- Tax at AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm.
The e-Appeals Scheme has been introduced for the sake of consistency, for the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) too, in line with the existing scheme, he said. "Tax payers will need to avail of e-Appeal scheme for filing matters designated for the Joint Commissioner and an opportunity for personal hearing is also available in some cases," said Sehgal.
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