Income Tax Appellate Tribunal: Bare fact

Established in January 1941, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal is a quasi-judicial organisation that handles appeals involving the Direct Taxes Acts. The decisions made by the ITAT are final. The High Court may hear an appeal only when a significant legal issue must be resolved.

Six members made up the first three Benches in 1941, one in Delhi, one in Kolkata (Calcutta), and one in Mumbai (Bombay). Since then, the number of benches has steadily increased, and at present, ITAT has 63 benches at 27 stations, covering nearly all the cities with a High Court seat.

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal: The organisation 

The Income Tax Appeals Tribunal (ITAT) is a quasi-judicial body established by the Central Government to handle appeals under the Income Tax Act of 1961. The Ministry of Law and Justice is responsible for managing the ITAT. For various regions with regional jurisdiction, the ITAT has multiple benches. The ITAT President assembles a bench of an ITAT from among its members. A judicial member and an accountant must make up each bench.

However, if the total income as determined by the Assessing Officer does not exceed Rs 50 lakhs, the President or any member of the ITAT may decide on any appeal. When necessary, the ITAT may assemble a special bench of three or more members, including at least one judge and one accountant, to hear appeals. The final authority for fact-finding is the ITAT. Any ITAT decision is conclusive when it comes to factual issues.

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal Functions

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) hears appeals relating to decisions made by the income tax authorities. Following the Commissioner of Income Tax, it is the second forum to hear income tax appeals. The High Court, which has jurisdiction over the ITAT, has authority over it and is superior to it. 

The ITAT should follow the jurisdictional High Court’s precedent. This implies that it must abide by the rules established by the High Court in a case it is appealing. Similar to how the Supreme Court of India established precedent or law, the ITAT should do the same.

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal: Appealable orders

Before the ITAT, you may appeal the following decisions:

• The Commissioner of Income Tax’s decisions.
• Orders made by the Commissioner with jurisdiction.
• Orders made by the Assessing Officer in accordance with the Dispute Resolution Panel’s instructions.
• The Assessing Officer’s decisions.
• The Commissioner issued a punishment order.
• Request for a suspension of tax demands.
• Various other applications for order recall.

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal: Procedure to appeal 

An appeal to the ITAT must be made in Form No. 36 and submitted in three copies. The appeal filing should be a paper book that includes the following:

1. The appealed-against order is available in two copies, one of which is certified.
2. The Assessing Officer’s order has to be submitted in two copies.
3. Two copies of the earlier grounds for appeal have to be presented to the CIT, the first appellate authority (A).
4. Two copies of the Facts Statement have to be presented to CIT (A).
5. If the appeal is against a penalty order, there should be two copies of the assessment order.
6. When an assessment order was issued based on Joint Commissioner instructions, two copies of those instructions must be submitted with the appeal.
7. If the appeal is against a reassessment order issued under section 147, two copies of the original assessment order must be submitted.
8. A duplicate of the ITAT fee challan.
9. Two copies of each of the earlier submissions made during the IT proceedings or before the CIT (A).
10. Any additional information the appellant wishes to offer should be provided in two copies.

Time available to file an appeal

An appeal must be made within 60 days of the order’s communication date, which is the appeal’s subject matter.

Submitting cross-objections memo

In under thirty days of receiving notice from the ITAT, the respondent to an appeal is required to submit a memo of cross-objections to the ITAT. The structure is outlined in Form No. 36A for submitting cross-objections. 

The cross-objections are free to file. Depending on the information and circumstances of the appeal, the ITAT may recognise a delayed submission of Form No. 36A.

Participation in ITAT proceedings

Both the appellant and the respondent have the option of having an authorised person represent them at the ITAT hearing. The people who may serve as authorised representatives are specified in Section 288 of the Income Tax Act of 1961. 

A taxpayer cannot, however, ask for representation during a personal examination under oath.

Presentation of evidence

Before the ITAT, no party is permitted to present any additional evidence. The ITAT may allow for the production of documents, the examination of witnesses, or the production of other evidence in a case where it requests any documents, affidavits or seeks to interview witnesses.

Orders by ITAT

The appeal is heard by the ITAT bench, which then issues the ruling on the appeal. The ITAT may decide the appeal ex-parte if one or more of the parties fail to show up on the scheduled hearing dates. The ITAT may revoke its earlier ex-parte order if the other party or parties appear following the disposal and provide the ITAT with justifications for their absence.

The ITAT’s orders are typically made by a bench made up of one judicial member and one accountant member. The President of the ITAT may, however, appoint a special bench of three or more members in important cases, including at least one judge and one accountant. If there is a disagreement among the members regarding a particular issue, the decision of the majority is final. The President hears the appeal and renders a decision if the judges on the bench cannot agree.

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