Circular No. 9/2024

]1.No.279!Misc'!M-74/2024-/T.I

What this is

Circular No. 9/2024 was issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes on 17 September 2024. Its subject is ]1.No.279!Misc'!M-74/2024-/T.I.

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 It binds the department only: it is not a rule about the merits, and an assessee cannot draw an inference from a withdrawn appeal.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 tax-effect thresholds below which the department is not to file an appeal, amending paragraph 4.1 of Circular No. 5/2024 dated 15 March 2024. The revised limits are a tax effect of Rs. 60 lakh for an appeal to the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal, Rs. 2 crore for the High Court and Rs. 5 crore for a special leave petition or appeal to the Supreme Court. The circular applies both to appeals to be filed from the date of its issue and to appeals and SLPs already pending before the Tribunal, the High Courts and the Supreme Court, which may accordingly be withdrawn. It also cautions that crossing the limit is not itself a reason to appeal — the decision must still be taken on the merits.

Why it was issued

A further step in the Board's litigation-management policy, revising the limits fixed only six months earlier by Circular No. 5/2024.

Who it reaches

Assessees with departmental appeals pending below the new limits
Departmental officers deciding whether to file or press an appeal
Standing counsel handling withdrawal of pending appeals and SLPs
Assessees who have already won before the Commissioner (Appeals) or the Tribunal on a small tax effect

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. The reading also stopped short of the end of the document: what is below is the opening, not the whole of it.

]1.No.279!Misc'!M-74/2024-/T.I
Govcrnmcnt of India
Minish,)' of Finance
Dcpartmcnt of Rcvenuc
Ccntra illoard ofDircct Taxcs
********
Circlliar No. 09/2024
New Delhi, 17th September, 2024
Sub:- Furthcr cnhancement of Monctary limits for filing of appeals by the Department
bcfore Incomc Tax Appellate Tribunal, High Courts and SLPs/appeals before Supreme
Court: amendment to Circular 5 of 2024- Measures for "educing litigation - Reg.
Reference is invited to Circular No 5/2024 (F.No.279/Misc.142/2007-ITJ(Pt.)) dated
15.03.2024 of Central Board of Direct Taxes (the 'Board') vide which monetary limits for
filing of income tax appeals by the Department before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, High
Cou!1S and SLP/appeals before Supreme Court have been specified. Fu!1her, exceptions to the
monetary limits were also specified vide paras 3.1 and 3.2 of the said Circular.
2. As a step towards management of litigation, it has been decided by the Board to revise
the monetary limits for filing of appeals in Income-tax cases as stated in Para 4.1 of the
aforementioned Circular as follows:
S1. No. Appeals/SLPs in Income-tax matters Monetary Limit (Tax effect in {)
1. Before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal 601akh
2. Before High Court 2 crore
3. Before'Supreme Court 5 crore

4. It is clarified that an appeal should not be filed merely because the tax effect in a case exceeds the monetary limits prescribed above. Filing of appeal in such cases is to be decided on merits of the case. The officers concerned shall keep in mind the overall objective of reducing unnecessary litigation and providing certainty to taxpayers on their Income-tax assessments while taking a decision regarding filing an appeal.

5. The modifications shall come into effect from the date of issue of this Circular. This Circular will apply to SLPs/appeals to be filed henceforth in SC/HCs/Tribunal. It shall also apply to the SLPs/ appeals pending before Supreme Court/High Courts/Tribunal, which may accordingly be withdrawn.

6. The above may be brought to the notice of all concerned.

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

8. Hindi version will follow.

Copy to:

(Divya Chaudhary)
Deputy Secretary (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. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

4. ADG (Vigilance), New Delhi.

5. Joint Secretary & Legal Advisor, Ministry of Law & Justice, New Delhi.

6. All Directorates of Income-tax, New Delhi and Pr. DGIT(NADT), Nagpur.

7. Data Base Cell for uploading on irsofficersonline.gov.in.

8. Hindi Cell for translation.

9. Guard file.

(Divya Chaudhary)
Deputy Secretary (ITJ)
CBDT, New Delhi

What to watch

The exceptions in paragraphs 3.1 and 3.2 of Circular No. 5/2024 are untouched; where a case falls in one of them the monetary limit gives no protection at all.
The measure is tax effect, not the amount of the addition — work the figure out before arguing the point.
Pending appeals are not withdrawn by force of the circular; they are liable to be withdrawn, so the point has to be taken before the forum.
It issues under section 268A, so it binds the department, not the assessee, and does not stop the department appealing in an excepted case.

Where you meet it

On an application to dismiss or withdraw a departmental appeal before the Tribunal or High Court on the ground of low tax effect, and when advising whether a favourable order below is likely to be carried further.

What it names

It mentions. Circular No. 5/2024

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. 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. 17/2019 — Further enhancement of monetary limits for filing of appeals by the department before income tax appellate tribunal high 8 August 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

← Circular No. 10/2024 · Circular No. 8/2024 →

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.

What it means in practice. This page is the instrument. For the question it answers, what the Board decided and what to do about it, see CBDT Circular 9/2024 — the s.268A monetary limits on departmental appeals.