Income Tax Section - 252A, Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

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    Section - 252A,  Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

Qualifications, terms and conditions of service of President, Vice-President and Member.

252A. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the qualifications, appointment, term of office, salaries and allowances, resignation, removal and the other terms and conditions of service of the President, Vice-President and other Members of the Appellate Tribunal appointed after the commencement of ^51a[the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2021, shall be governed by the provisions of Chapter II of the said Act]:

Provided that the President, Vice-President and Member appointed before the commencement of Part XIV of Chapter VI of the Finance Act, 2017, shall continue to be governed by the provisions of this Act, and the rules made thereunder as if the provisions of section 184 of the Finance Act, 2017 had not come into force.

Income Tax Section - 252, Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

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    Section - 252,  Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

B.—Appeals to the Appellate Tribunal

Appellate Tribunal.

252. (1) The Central Government shall constitute an Appellate Tribunal consisting of as many judicial and accountant members as it thinks fit to exercise the powers and discharge the functions conferred on the Appellate Tribunal by this Act.

(2) A judicial member shall be a person who has for at least ten years held a judicial office in the territory of India or who has been a member of the Indian Legal Service and has held a post in Grade II of that Service or any equivalent or higher post for at least three years or who has been an advocate for at least ten years.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section,—

  (i) in computing the period during which a person has held judicial office in the territory of India, there shall be included any period, after he has held any judicial office, during which the person has been an advocate or has held the office of a member of a Tribunal or any post, under the Union or a State, requiring special knowledge of law;

 (ii) in computing the period during which a person has been an advocate, there shall be included any period during which the person has held judicial office or the office of a member of a Tribunal or any post, under the Union or a State, requiring special knowledge of law after he became an advocate.

(2A) An accountant member shall be a person who has for at least ten years been in the practice of accountancy as a chartered accountant under the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949 (38 of 1949), or as a registered accountant under any law formerly in force or partly as a registered accountant and partly as a chartered accountant, or who has been a member of the Indian Income-tax Service, Group A and has held the post of Additional Commissioner of Income-tax or any equivalent or higher post for at least three years.

(3) The Central Government shall appoint—

 (a) a person who is a sitting or retired Judge of a High Court and who has completed not less than seven years of service as a Judge in a High Court; or

 (b) one of the Vice-Presidents of the Appellate Tribunal,

to be the President thereof.

(4) The Central Government may appoint one or more members of the Appellate Tribunal to be the Vice-President or, as the case may be, Vice-Presidents thereof.

(4A) [***]

(5) The Vice-President shall exercise such of the powers and perform such of the functions of the President as may be delegated to him by the President by a general or special order in writing.

Income Tax Section - 251, Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

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    Section - 251,  Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

Powers of the Commissioner (Appeals).

⁵¹251. (1) In disposing of an appeal, the Commissioner (Appeals) shall have the following powers—

 (a) in an appeal against an order of assessment, he may confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment;

(aa) in an appeal against the order of assessment in respect of which the proceeding before the Settlement Commission abates under section 245HA, he may, after taking into consideration all the material and other information produced by the assessee before, or the results of the inquiry held or evidence recorded by, the Settlement Commission, in the course of the proceeding before it and such other material as may be brought on his record, confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment;

 (b) in an appeal against an order imposing a penalty, he may confirm or cancel such order or vary it so as either to enhance or to reduce the penalty;

 (c) in any other case, he may pass such orders in the appeal as he thinks fit.

(2) The Commissioner (Appeals) shall not enhance an assessment or a penalty or reduce the amount of refund unless the appellant has had a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against such enhancement or reduction.

Explanation.—In disposing of an appeal, the Commissioner (Appeals) may consider and decide any matter arising out of the proceedings in which the order appealed against was passed, notwithstanding that such matter was not raised before the Commissioner (Appeals) by the appellant.

Income Tax Section - 250, Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

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    Section - 250,  Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

Procedure in appeal.

250. (1) The Commissioner (Appeals) shall fix a day and place for the hearing of the appeal, and shall give notice of the same to the appellant and to the Assessing Officer against whose order the appeal is preferred.

(2) The following shall have the right to be heard at the hearing of the appeal—

 (a) the appellant, either in person or by an authorised representative;

 (b) the Assessing Officer, either in person or by a representative.

(3) The Commissioner (Appeals) shall have the power to adjourn the hearing of the appeal from time to time.

(4) The Commissioner (Appeals) may, before disposing of any appeal, make such further inquiry as he thinks fit, or may direct the Assessing Officer to make further inquiry and report the result of the same to the Commissioner (Appeals).

(5) The Commissioner (Appeals) may, at the hearing of an appeal, allow the appellant to go into any ground of appeal not specified in the grounds of appeal, if the Commissioner (Appeals) is satisfied that the omission of that ground from the form of appeal was not wilful or unreasonable.

(6) The order of the Commissioner (Appeals) disposing of the appeal shall be in writing and shall state the points for determination, the decision thereon and the reason for the decision.

(6A) In every appeal, the Commissioner (Appeals), where it is possible, may hear and decide such appeal within a period of one year from the end of the financial year in which such appeal is filed before him under sub-section (1) of section 246A.

⁵⁰[(6B) The Central Government may make a scheme, by notification in the Official Gazette, for the purposes of disposal of appeal by Commissioner (Appeals), so as to impart greater efficiency, transparency and accountability by—

 (a) eliminating the interface between the Commissioner (Appeals) and the appellant in the course of appellate proceedings to the extent technologically feasible;

 (b) optimising utilisation of the resources through economies of scale and functional specialisation;

 (c) introducing an appellate system with dynamic jurisdiction in which appeal shall be disposed of by one or more Commissioner (Appeals).

(6C) The Central Government may, for the purposes of giving effect to the scheme made under sub-section (6B), by notification in the Official Gazette, direct that any of the provisions of this Act relating to jurisdiction and procedure for disposal of appeals by Commissioner (Appeals) shall not apply or shall apply with such exceptions, modifications and adaptations as may be specified in the notification:

Provided that no direction shall be issued after the 31st day of March, 2022.

(6D) Every notification issued under sub-section (6B) and sub-section (6C) shall, as soon as may be after the notification is issued, be laid before each House of Parliament.]

(7) On the disposal of the appeal, the Commissioner (Appeals) shall communicate the order passed by him to the assessee and to the Principal Chief Commissioner or Chief Commissioner or Principal Commissioner or Commissioner.

Income Tax Section - 249, Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

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    Section - 249,  Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

Form of appeal and limitation.

249. (1) Every appeal under this Chapter shall be in the prescribed form⁴⁹ and shall be verified in the prescribed manner and shall, in case of an appeal made to the Commissioner (Appeals) on or after the 1st day of October, 1998, irrespective of the date of initiation of the assessment proceedings relating thereto be accompanied by a fee of,—

  (i) where the total income of the assessee as computed by the Assessing Officer in the case to which the appeal relates is one hundred thousand rupees or less, two hundred fifty rupees;

 (ii) where the total income of the assessee, computed as aforesaid, in the case to which the appeal relates is more than one hundred thousand rupees but not more than two hundred thousand rupees, five hundred rupees;

(iii) where the total income of the assessee, computed as aforesaid, in the case to which the appeal relates is more than two hundred thousand rupees, one thousand rupees;

(iv) where the subject matter of an appeal is not covered under clauses (i), (ii) and (iii), two hundred fifty rupees.

(2) The appeal shall be presented within thirty days of the following date, that is to say,—

 (a) where the appeal is under section 248, the date of payment of the tax, or

 (b) where the appeal relates to any assessment or penalty, the date of service of the notice of demand relating to the assessment or penalty:

Provided that, where an application has been made under section 146 for reopening an assessment, the period from the date on which the application is made to the date on which the order passed on the application is served on the assessee shall be excluded :

Provided further that where an application has been made under sub-section (1) of section 270AA, the period beginning from the date on which the application is made, to the date on which the order rejecting the application is served on the assessee, shall be excluded, or

 (c) in any other case, the date on which intimation of the order sought to be appealed against is served.

(2A) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2), where an order has been made under section 201 on or after the 1st day of October, 1998 but before the 1st day of June, 2000 and the assessee in default has not presented any appeal within the time specified in that sub-section, he may present such appeal before the 1st day of July, 2000.

(3) The Commissioner (Appeals) may admit an appeal after the expiration of the said period if he is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause for not presenting it within that period.

(4) No appeal under this Chapter shall be admitted unless at the time of filing of the appeal,—

 (a) where a return has been filed by the assessee, the assessee has paid the tax due on the income returned by him; or

 (b) where no return has been filed by the assessee, the assessee has paid an amount equal to the amount of advance tax which was payable by him:

Provided that, in a case falling under clause (b) and on an application made by the appellant in this behalf, the Commissioner (Appeals) may, for any good and sufficient reason to be recorded in writing, exempt him from the operation of the provisions of that clause.

Income Tax Section - 248, Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

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    Section - 248,  Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

Appeal by a person denying liability to deduct tax in certain cases.

248. Where under an agreement or other arrangement, the tax deductible on any income, other than interest, under section 195 is to be borne by the person by whom the income is payable, and such person having paid such tax to the credit of the Central Government, claims that no tax was required to be deducted on such income, he may appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) for a declaration that no tax was deductible on such income.

Income Tax Section - 247, Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

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    Section - 247,  Income Tax Act, 1961-2021

Appeal by partner.

247. [Omitted by the Finance Act, 1992, w.e.f. 1-4-1993.]