Some taxpayers who get the stay granted by the Appellate Tribunal for Forfeited Property (ATFP) may encounter shocking news in the coming weeks. Acting as a semi-judicial authority, The income tax department is trying to abort the stay permitted to the taxpayers by Appellate Tribunal.
The Supreme Court declared the validity of 6 months for stay orders which can not be extended except for extraordinary cases. Considering this declaration, the Income Tax Department is focusing on such matters, in which the stay order has been acknowledged for more than six months by the Income Tax Tribunal (ITAT).
According to some sources, some applications have already been filed in the ITAT for removal, while some more may be filed till March 15 under the consent of the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman PC Modi.
In the interim budget presented in February, the collection target for the tax department was given Rs 12 lakh crore, but till March 7, the total collection is about 8.45 lakh crore rupees.
The Income Tax Department aims at maximising of revenue before March 31 because of which the IT is urging to take this step to highly pressurize the taxpayers to pay the taxes before the end of the F.Y.
However, Chartered Accountant Dilip Lakhani says that the proceeding of ITAT can not applicable over the Supreme Court’s decision & cannot be treated as a judicial trial as income tax department is not a court.
Lakhani commented that after considering & approving the relevant facts of the case, ITAT permits an extension of more than six months of stay.
Last year in March the Supreme Court said that the delay in the hearing adversely impacts the trust factor of public on rules of law and raise questions to the effectiveness of the legal system. In cases where the stay has been granted, the validity of the order will be six months from the date of issue of such orders. In extraordinary cases, the stay can be given for a longer period.
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In case of the arrival of the taxpayer assessment order, an appeal for the further stay can be made before the commissioner of the Income Tax Department.
- If the appeal is accepted then the taxpayer is liable to deposit 20% of the amount on receipt of the stay
- If the appeal is rejected then taxpayers can approach ITAT when the stay can be further extended for six months
The partner of Choksi and Choksi, M Choksi suggested the Taxpayers appeal to the High Court for the additional lengthening the stay after six months.
