Circular No. 10/2021

Circular No. I 0 12021

What this is

Circular No. 10/2021 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 25 May 2021. Its subject is Circular No. I 0 12021.

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 It binds the department only: it is not a rule about the merits, and an assessee cannot draw an inference from a withdrawn appeal.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

Resolves which extension governs the time for filing an appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals). Circular No. 8 of 2021 dated 30 April 2021 had extended various compliances, including the time for filing such appeals, till 31 May 2021, while the Supreme Court in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) No. 3 of 2020, by its order of April 2021 restoring the order of 23 March 2020 and continuing the order of 8 March 2021, directed that periods of limitation under any general or special law for all judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings, whether condonable or not, stand extended till further orders. The Board clarifies that where different relaxations are available for a compliance the taxpayer is entitled to whichever is more beneficial, so the limitation for filing an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals) stands extended till further orders as directed by the Supreme Court.

Why it was issued

Two relaxations covered the same compliance and taxpayers needed to know which applied.

Who it reaches

Assessees whose time to appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) expired during the COVID period
Assessees whose appeals were rejected as time barred by reference to the 31 May 2021 date
Advisers computing limitation for first appeals in that period

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.

Circular No. I 0 12021
F .NO.225/49/2021/ITA-1I
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
New Delhi, Dated 25th May, 2021
Subject: Clarification regarding the limitation time for filing of appeals before the
CIT(Appeals) under the Income-tax Act,1961 (the Act)

1. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has issued Circular NO. 8 of 2021 on 30th April
2021 providing various relaxations till 31 st May 2021 including extending time for filing
the appeals before CIT(Appeals). At the same time, the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide
order dated 2yth Aprii 2021 in Suo Motu Writ Petition (Civil) NO.3 of 2020 restored the
order dated 23rd March, 2020 and in continuation of the order dated 8th March, 2021
directed that the period(s) of limitation, as prescribed under any General or Special
Laws in respect of all judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings, whether condonable or not,
shall stand extended till further orders.

2. The Central Board of Direct Taxes, clarifies that if different relaxations are available
to the taxpayers for a particular compliance, the taxpayer is entitled to the relaxation
which is more beneficial to him. Thus, for the purpose of counting the period(s) of
limitation for filing of appeals before the CIT(Appeals) under the Act, the taxpayer is
entitled to a relaxation which is more beneficial to him and hence the said limitation
stands extended till further orders as ordered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Suo
Motu Writ Petition (Civil) NO.3 of 2020 vide order dated 2yth April 2021.

(Prajna Paramita)
Director to the Government of India.

Copy to:
1. PS to F.M.I PS to MoS (F).
2. PS to Revenue Secretary.
3. Chairman (CBDT)& All Members of CBDT.
4. All Pro CCsIT/CCsIT/Pr. DGsITIDGslT.
5. All Joint SecretariesiCslT, CBDT.
6. Directors/Deputy Secretaries/Under Secretaries of CBDT.
7. Web Manager, with a request to place the order on official Income-tax website.
8. CIT (M&TP), Official Spokesperson of CBDT with a request to publicize widely.
9. JCIT, Data Base Cell for placing it on irsofficersonline.gov.in.
10. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, IP Estate, New Delhi.
11. All Chambers of Commerce.
12. The Guard File.

(Prajna Paramita)
Director to the Government of India.

What to watch

The principle stated is general — where several relaxations cover the same compliance, the more beneficial one applies — and is worth more than the particular dates.
The Supreme Court extension ran till further orders, so the closing date has to be taken from that court's later orders, not from this circular.
This concerns the appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals); the Supreme Court's direction was itself wider, covering limitation under any general or special law.
The circular does not condone a delay beyond the extension; it only fixes what the limitation period was.

Where you meet it

When a first appeal filed in the COVID period is dismissed as barred by limitation and the extension available to it is in issue.

What it names

It mentions. Circular No. 8/2021

← Circular No. 11/2021 · Circular No. 9/2021 →

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.