Circular No. 17/2019

Further enhancement of monetary limits for filing of appeals by the department before income tax appellate tribunal high courts and slps/appeals before supreme court amendment to circular 3 of 2018 measures for reducing litigation

What this is

Circular No. 17/2019 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 8 August 2019. Its subject is Further enhancement of monetary limits for filing of appeals by the department before income tax appellate tribunal high courts and slps/appeals before supreme court amendment to circular 3 of 2018 measures for reducing litigation.

This fixes the monetary limits below which the department will not appeal. It binds the department only: it is not a rule about the merits, and an assessee cannot draw an inference from a withdrawn appeal.

What it does

Raises the money thresholds below which the department does not appeal, and fixes how the threshold is applied where one order covers several years. Amending paragraph 3 of Circular No. 3 of 2018 dated 11 July 2018, the limits become Rs.50,00,000 for an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal, Rs.1,00,00,000 before a High Court and Rs.2,00,00,000 for a special leave petition or appeal before the Supreme Court. Paragraph 5 of that circular is substituted: the Assessing Officer must work out the tax effect separately for every assessment year on the disputed issues for every assessee, and may appeal only for the year or years where the tax effect crosses the limit; where the tax effect is below it, no appeal is to be filed, and that holds even where a High Court or appellate authority has passed a composite order covering several years on common issues. Where a composite order or judgment involves more than one assessee, each assessee is dealt with separately. The changes take effect from the date the circular was issued and it issues under section 268A.

Why it was issued

The Board took it as a further step in managing litigation, and a representation had been received that an anomaly in paragraph 5 of the earlier circular should be removed.

Who it reaches

Assessees facing a departmental appeal below the new limits
Assessees covered by a composite order spanning several assessment years
Assessees named in a composite judgment along with others
Assessing Officers and Commissioners deciding whether to appeal

The provisions it speaks to

Left, the provision of the Income-tax Act, 1961 as the instrument itself names it. Right, the section of the Income-tax Act, 2025 that the department’s own concordance maps it to — which is where the same ground is now covered.

Under the 1961 Act	Now
s.268A	s.373

The instrument, as the Board published it

The department publishes this one only as a PDF, so the words below were read out of that PDF by machine. That reading can carry its own mistakes — a misread number, a broken line. Check the signed document before you rely on a figure in it.

F. No. 279/Misc. 142/2007-ITJ(Pt.)
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board Direct Taxes
Judicial Section
Circular No. 17/2019
New Delhi. 8th August 2019
Subject: - Further Enhancement of Monetary limits for filing of appeals by the
Department before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, High Courts and
SLPs/appeals before Supreme Court - Amendment to Circular 3 of 2018 -
Measures for reducing litigation.-

Reference is invited to the Circular No.3 of2018 dated 11.07.2018 (the Circular) of
Central Board of Direct Taxes (the Board) and its amendment dated 20th August. 2018 vide
which monetary limits for fi ling of income tax appeals by the Department before Income Tax
Appellate Tribunal. High Courts and SLPs/appeals hefore Supreme Court have been specified.
Representation has also been received that an anomaly in the said circular at para 5 may be
removed.

2. As a step towards further management of litigation. it has been decided by the Board
that monetary limits for filing of appeals in income-tax cases be enhanced further through
amendment in Para 3 of the Circular mentioned above and accordingly, the table for monetary
limits specified in Para 3 ofthe Circular shall read as follows:

S.No. AppealslSLPs in Income-tax matters Monetary Limit (Rs.)
1. Before Appellate Tribunal 50,00,000
2. Before High Court 1,00.00.000
3. Before Supreme Court 2.00.00,000

3. Further, with a view to provide parity in filing of appeals in scenarios where separate order is
passed by higher appellate authorities for each assessment year vis-a-vis where composite order
for more than one assessment years is passed. para 5 of the circular is substituted by the
following para:

"5. The Assessing Officer shall calculate the tax effect separately for every
assessment year in respect of the disputed issues in the case of every assessee. If, in
the case of an assessee, the disputed issues arise in more than one assessment year,
appeal can be filed in respect of such assessment year or years in which the tax effect
in respect of the disputed issues exceeds the monetary limit specified in para 3. No
appeal shall be filed in respect of an assessment year or years in which the tax effect
is less than the monetary limit specified in para 3. Further, even in the case of
composite order of any High Court or appellate authority which involves more than
one assessment year and common issues in more than one assessment year, no appeal
shall be filed in respect of an assessment year or years in which the tax effect is less
than the monetary limit specified in para 3. In case where a composite order/
judgement involves more than one assessee. each assessee shall be dealt with
separately."

4. The said modifications shall come into effect from the date of issue of this Circular.

5. The same may be brought to the notice of all concerned.

6. This issues under section 268A of the Income-tax Act, 1961.

7. Hindi version will follow.

Copy to:

(Neetika, Director, (ITJ) CBDT, New Delhi)

1. Chairman, Members and all other officers in CBDT of the rank of Under Secretary and above.
2. All Pr. Chief Commissioners of Income Tax and all Directors General of Income Tax with a request to bring to the attention of all officers.
3. ADG(PR,P&P), Mayur Bhawan. New Delhi for printing in the quarterly Tax Bulletin and for circulation as per usual mailing list.
4. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
5. ADG (Vigilance), Mayur Bhawan. New Delhi.
6. Joint Secretary & Legal Advisor. Ministry of Law & Justice, New Delhi.
7. All Directorates of Income-tax. New Delhi and Pr. DGIT(NADT), Nagpur.
8. ITCC (3 copies).
9. ADG (System)-4, for uploading on the Department's website.
10. Data Base Cell for uploading on irsofficersonline.gov.in.
11. njrs_support@nsdl.co.in for uploading on NJRS.
12. Hindi Cell for translation.
13. Guard file.

(Director, (ITJ) CBDT, New Delhi)

What to watch

The unit of measurement is the assessment year and the assessee, never the order - a composite order does not let the department aggregate years to cross the limit.
The circular is prospective from its date of issue, so the treatment of appeals already filed is not settled by it.
It amends Circular No. 3 of 2018 and its amendment of 20 August 2018 rather than replacing them, so the exceptions and the definition of tax effect in the parent circular continue to govern.
It binds the department; it is not a bar on an assessee's own appeal.

Where you meet it

On an application to dismiss a departmental appeal before the Tribunal or the High Court as below the monetary limit.

An example

Ours, not the Board’s: a worked case built from the rule the instrument sets, to show how it falls out.

A composite order of the Tribunal covers assessment years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 on the same disputed issue, with tax effect of Rs.30 lakhs, Rs.1.2 crores and Rs.40 lakhs respectively. For an appeal to the High Court the department must test each year against Rs.1,00,00,000, so it may appeal only for assessment year 2014-15. It cannot add the three years to a total of Rs.1.9 crores and appeal for all of them.

What it names

It mentions. Circular No. 17/2019, Circular No. 3/2018

On the same provision

Other instruments in this library that name the same provision of the 1961 Act. They are not necessarily still operative, and a later one may have replaced an earlier one without saying so.

Circular No. 9/2024 — ]1.No.279!Misc'!M-74/2024-/T.I 17 September 2024
Circular No. 23/2019 — Exception to monetary limits for filing appeals specified in any circular issued under section 268A of the income tax ac 6 September 2019
Circular No. DIT(L&R)-I/SLP/393/2011/4589 — Section 268A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 - Appeals and Revision - Filing of Appeal or Application for Reference by Incom 2 September 2011

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.