Apex Court Disposes 573 Direct Tax Cases In Light Of Revised Monetary Thresholds For Tax Appeals

The Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed of 573 direct tax cases where the tax effect is less than Rs 5 crore.

The top court's move is in line with the revised monetary limits for filing direct tax appeals before various judicial forums.

As per the finance ministry notification from last week, the thresholds for filing appeals before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, the High Courts, and the Supreme Court have been increased to Rs 60 lakh, Rs 2 crore, and Rs 5 crore, respectively.

In 2019, these limits were pegged at Rs 50 lakh, Rs 1 crore, and Rs 2 crore.

As a result of these revised limits, it is estimated that around 4,341 cases will be withdrawn from various judicial forums over the course of time, a PIB release from Tuesday said.

The high courts will see the maximum withdrawals, followed by the top court and then the ITAT.

Notably, the thresholds for certain specified legacy central excise and service tax cases were also increased by the government.

For the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal or CESTAT, the limit was increased to Rs 60 lakh from Rs 50 lakh. For high courts, the limit was increased to Rs 2 crore from Rs 1 crore, and for the top court, the limit was increased to ₹5 crore from ₹2 crore. 

As a result of this increase in monetary limits, PIB estimates that around 1,044 cases pertaining to specified legacy central excise and service tax cases will be withdrawn from various judicial forums.

These measures on the direct and indirect tax front are expected to significantly reduce the burden of tax litigation and expedite the resolution of tax disputes.