income tax
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has mandated that all Principal Chief Commissioners of Income Tax (PR. CITs) prioritize the resolution of pending appeals that have been outstanding for over three and five years. Specifically, all appeals pending for more than five years as of April 1, 2019, are to be cleared by March 31, 2020, without exception.
This directive emphasizes the urgency in addressing older appeals to improve the efficiency of the tax litigation process. The attached data from the Income Tax Business Application (ITBA) reveals concerning statistics: out of an initial backlog of 31,325 appeals pending for over five years, only 7,597 had been resolved by November 30, 2019.
In line with this directive, all Commissioners of Income Tax (Appeals) (CsIT(A)) in their respective jurisdictions are instructed to ensure the disposal of these appeals. If necessary, redistribution of cases within local regions is authorized to facilitate timely processing and resolution by the specified deadline.
The following statistics detail the number of appeals pending as of April 1, 2019, and the number resolved by November 30, 2019:
| S. No. | CCA | No. of Appeals as on April 1, 2019 | Disposal till November 30, 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CCA Mumbai | 22,074 | 4,891 |
| 2 | CCA Kanpur | 784 | 68 |
| 3 | CCA Nagpur | 1,580 | 511 |
| 4 | CCA Bhopal | 11,207 | 810 |
| 5 | CCA Bhubaneswar | 1,560 | 401 |
| 6 | CCA Hyderabad | 2,822 | 1,235 |
| 7 | CCA Lucknow | 1,855 | 612 |
| 8 | CCA Guwahati | 150 | 66 |
| 9 | CCA Delhi | 2,514 | 818 |
| 10 | CCA Chennai | 5,264 | 1,452 |
| 11 | CCA Pune | 6,603 | 1,770 |
| 12 | CCA Chandigarh | 2,606 | 730 |
| 13 | CCA Jaipur | 3,264 | 703 |
| 14 | CCA Kochi | 6,705 | 830 |
| 15 | CCA Kolkata | 15,968 | 2,484 |
| 16 | CCA Patna | 2,991 | 573 |
| 17 | CCA Bangalore | 3,513 | 815 |
| 18 | CCA Ahmedabad | 5,390 | 999 |
| Total | 96,850 | 19,768 |
| S. No. | CCA | No. of Appeals as on April 1, 2019 | Disposal till November 30, 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CCA Mumbai | 5,322 | 1,121 |
| 2 | CCA Kanpur | 183 | 5 |
| 3 | CCA Nagpur | 576 | 218 |
| 4 | CCA Bhopal | 3,399 | 261 |
| 5 | CCA Bhubaneswar | 774 | 279 |
| 6 | CCA Hyderabad | 1,237 | 640 |
| 7 | CCA Lucknow | 395 | 177 |
| 8 | CCA Guwahati | 60 | 31 |
| 9 | CCA Delhi | 644 | 227 |
| 10 | CCA Chennai | 2,413 | 697 |
| 11 | CCA Pune | 2,671 | 1,003 |
| 12 | CCA Chandigarh | 795 | 330 |
| 13 | CCA Jaipur | 943 | 254 |
| 14 | CCA Kochi | 3,243 | 506 |
| 15 | CCA Kolkata | 4,243 | 740 |
| 16 | CCA Patna | 2,275 | 470 |
| 17 | CCA Bangalore | 1,469 | 471 |
| 18 | CCA Ahmedabad | 683 | 167 |
| Total | 31,325 | 7,597 |
This communication is issued with the approval of the Chairman of CBDT. It is crucial to expedite the disposal of pending appeals to enhance the efficiency of the tax administration system.