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Filing of Appeal

An appeal is a procedure by which an assessee/tax payer can fight against the assessment order and/or notice of demand given by the Income tax department.

It may so happen that in an assessment, the data given in the Income tax return is not accepted by the Income Tax department/assessing officer due to lack of documents or due to misrepresentation of facts according to him. It may result in a huge amount of demand/penalty which can be unacceptable by the assessee. At that point of time, the only legal way left with the assessee is going for an appeal to the higher authority.

The first level of appeal is filed with Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) commonly referred to as CIT (A). If the order received from CIT (A) is also not satisfying, appeal against the same may be filed with ITAT (Income Tax Appellate Tribunal). If order received from ITAT is not satisfying, appeal against the same may be filed with High Court. If none of the orders are satisfying to the assessee, final appeal may be filed with Supreme Court. The order given by Supreme Court is binding on every person. It cannot be challenged under any circumstances.

In this article, we will be discussing about first level of appeal i.e. Appeal filed with CIT (A).

Order received from Income Tax Officer can be appealed with CIT (Appeals) within 30 days of receipt of order after paying requisite amount of appeal fees. For example, if the assessment order is received on 26.12.2018, appeal can be filed latest by 24.01.2019.

The amount of appeal fees is mentioned below:

If the subject matter of appeal is not related with Income, appeal fees will be Rs. 250 only.

Appeal with CIT (A) can be filed online through e-filing portal. Following are the steps:

1. Go to www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

2. Login with your Income Tax credentials

3. Click on e-file tab

4. Select Income Tax form

5. Select relevant assessment year and Form 35 from the dropdown menu

Before filing online appeal, please take note of the following:

1. Make sure that your Grounds of Appeal and statements of facts ready in word file.

2. Pay online the appropriate fees as mentioned above

3. Scan the order copy and payment challan in a pdf file.

Also note that mere filing of an appeal does not hold the demand amount (if any). In order to stay the demand, 20% of the demand amount needs to be paid. Further an application letter with the subject line stay of demand needs to be filed with Assessing officer along with the copy of challan of 20% demand amount payment and the copy of form 35 filed.

In case of any futher queries/suggestions, you can contact us at 7604033351 or write to us at info@fundscoop.in