Major Steps taken for Reducing Tax Litigations 

Dated: 11 JUL 2018

In order to reduce the long pending grievances of taxpayers and to minimise litigations pertaining to tax matters and to facilitate the Ease of Doing Business, Government of India has decided to increase the threshold monetary limits for filing Departmental Appeals at various levels, be it Appellate Tribunals, High Courts and the Supreme Court in the following manner :- 

This is a major step in the direction of litigation management of both direct and indirect taxes as it will effectively reduce minor litigations and help the Department to focus on high value litigations. 

In case of CBDT, out of total cases filed by the Department in ITAT, 34% of cases will be withdrawn. In case of High Courts, 48% of cases will be withdrawn and in case of Supreme Court 54% of cases will be withdrawn. The total percentage of reduction of litigation from Department’s side will get reduced by 41%. However, this will not apply in such cases where substantial point of law is involved. 

Similarly, in case of CBIC, out of total cases filed by the Department in CESTAT, 16% of cases will be withdrawn. In case of High Courts, 22% of cases will be withdrawn and in case of Supreme Court 21% of cases will be withdrawn. The total percentage of reduction of litigation from Department’s side will get reduced by 18%. However, this will not apply in such cases where substantial point of law is involved. 

This step will also reduce future litigation flow from the Department side. 

******

DSM/RM/KA

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

Department of Revenue

Central Board of Direct Taxes

New Delhi, 4th July, 2018

PRESS RELEASE

Special drive for expeditious clearance of pending appeal effect and rectification matters and issue of refunds

The Income Tax Department observed a dedicated fortnight from 1 st to 15^th June, 2018 to expeditiously clear pending matters of appeal effect and rectification. More than 20,000 such matters were disposed of and refunds were issued to the taxpayers, wherever due. Seeing the success of this initiative, the special drive was extended in certain regions up to 30 th June, 2018.

Further, large amounts of refunds have also been issued consequent to processing of income-tax returns. More than 99% of all refund claims pending for processing as on 30.06.2018 have already been processed and the refunds due have been issued to the taxpayers. In all, refunds in 45.07 lakh cases have been issued during April-June, 2018, which is 9.0 lakh more than the refunds issued during the same period last year. More than 3 lakh refunds of Assessment Year 2018-19, for which returns have been filed only in last few weeks, have also been issued.

More than Rs.70,000 crore of refunds have been issued to the taxpayers as a result of the special drive and expeditious processing of returns involving claim of refunds. Central Board of Direct Taxes is committed to constantly reducing the service delivery timelines, expeditiously resolving the grievances of the taxpayers and improving the overall level of taxpayer service.

(Y. D. Sharma)

Commissioner of Income Tax

(Media & Technical Policy)

Official Spokesperson, CBDT.

Ministry of Finance : Indian Advance Pricing Agreement regime moves forward with signing of three UAPAs by CBDT in May and June, 2018 

Dated: 04 JUL 2018

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into three Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements (UAPA) during the past couple of months. With the signing of these Agreements, the total number of APAs entered into by the CBDT has gone up to 223, which inter alia include 20 Bilateral APAs. 

The UAPAs entered into during the past couple of months pertain to consumer industry, automobile and precious stones & metals sectors of the economy. The international transactions covered in the agreements pertain to provision of corporate guarantee, purchase of brand, availing of grading services, availing of management services and payment of royalty.  

The progress of the APA scheme strengthens the Government’s resolve of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime. The Indian APA programme has been appreciated nationally and internationally for being able to address complex transfer pricing issues in a fair and transparent manner. 

******

 DSM/RM/KA
(Release ID :180403)

HC dismisses Revenue's appeal, upholds ITAT order deleting levy of penalty; Holds that when the additions made by the AO pursuant to search u/s. 132 are set aside by ITAT, and consequentially the penalty u/s.271(1)(c) is set aside, no substantial question of law arises for HC to consider u/s. 260-A; Distinguishes SC decision in MAK Data (which held that explanation by assessee that surrender of income was made to buy peace was not sufficient to satisfy Explanation-1 to Sec. 271(1)(c)) on the ground that  in the present case, there is no finding to the effect that no explanation was offered by assessee; Notes that ITAT set aside both the additions made by the AO pursuant to search u/s. 132  following decision of co-ordinate bench in Tata Elxsi as far as issue of Sec. 10B is concerned and on the issue of excess stock, being tax neutral; Revenue argued in support of levy of penalty that surrender of income after a search is conducted cannot be treated as voluntary surrender; HC makes note of assessee's reliance on coordinate bench decision in  Manjunatha cotton & ginning factory wherein it was held that imposition of penalty is not automatic and depends on facts and circumstances of each case.

 Click here to read facts and download copy of HC judgment reported in [TS-5513-HC-2018(Karnataka)-O]

ITAT - Interest expenditure on loan availed for purchasing a property to be included as cost of acquisition at the time of computing capital gains u/s 48

Click here to read facts and download copy of ITAT Order reported in [TS-5184-ITAT-2017(Kolkata)-O]