F.No. 279/Misc./M-142/2007-ITJ (Part)

Clarification on applicability of Circular 21 of 2015

What this is

F.No. 279/Misc./M-142/2007-ITJ (Part) was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 8 March 2016. Its subject is Clarification on applicability of Circular 21 of 2015.

This is a clarification. The Board is stating how it reads a provision. That reading binds the department; it does not bind a court, and where the section says otherwise the section wins.

The instrument itself

The text, read by machine from the scan

This is not the department’s typed text. The department published this one as a scanned image of a signed paper, so there is no text in the file to copy. What follows was read off that image by optical character recognition and is reproduced without correction — the mistakes you can see are the machine’s, and there may be others you cannot. It is here so the document can be found and read; it is not a substitute for the file, which is linked below. Do not quote from this page.

08 Mar 16 14:39 p.2
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Central Board of Direct Taxes
F.No.279/Misc./M-142/2007-ITJ (Part) New Delhi, 8" March, 2016
All Pr. Chief Commissioners of Income-Tax
All Directors General of Income-Tax
Madam/ Sir, .
Subject: Clarification on applicability of Circular 21 of 2015-reg.-
The monetary limits for filing appeals before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunals and High
Courts were raised to Rs. 10 lakhs and Rs. 20 lakhs respectively by Circular 21 of 2015 dated
10.12.2015. Queries have been received regarding the applicability of Circular 21 of 2015 to cross objections filed by the Department before the ITAT under section 253(4) of the Income-tax Act and to references to the High Court under sections 256(1) and 256(2) of the Act.

2. The matter was examined in the CBDT and it is clarified that the monetary limit of Rs. 10
lakhs for filing appeals before the ITAT would apply equally to cross objections under section
253(4) of the Act. Cross objections below, this monetary limit, already filed, should be pursued for dismissal as withdrawn/ not pressed. Filing of cross objections below the monetary limit may not be considered henceforth.

3. Similarly, references to High Courts below the monetary limit of Rs. 20 lakhs should be pursued for dismissal as withdrawn/ not pressed. References below this limit may not be considered henceforth.
4. This clarification may be brought to the attention of all concerned.
Yours faithfully,
WA ig ep (DS Chaudhry)
CIT (A&J), CBDT,
New Delhi.
Copy to:
1. The Chairman, Members and officers of the CBDT of the rank of US and above.
2. OSD to Revenue Secretary.
3. The Pr. Director General of Income-Tax, NADT, Nagpur.
4. The Pr. DGIT (Systems), ARA Centre, New Delhi.
5. The Pr. DGIT (Vigilance), New Delhi.
6. The ADG (PR, PP & OL), Mayur Bhawan, New Delhi for printing in the quarterly tax .
bultetin and for circulation as per the mailing list (100 copies).
7. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (40 copies).
8. The ADG-4 (Systems) for uploading on ITD website.
9. Data Base Cell for uploading on irsofficersonline.
10. Guard file.
Page lofi

Source: the department’s scanned file.

← Circular No. 08/2016 · Circular No. 7/2016 →

A circular binds the department, not you and not a court. The Board issues a circular to its own officers. An assessee may hold the department to a circular that helps him; the department cannot hold an assessee to one that hurts him, and the Tribunal and the courts decide the law for themselves.

Source: the Income Tax Department’s own published text — its page for this instrument.