NT Reporter
Panaji
With an increasing number of Goans aggrieved by orders passed by the central income tax authority, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has pegged Goa’s standing tax disputes at 390 cases presently.
Vice-president of ITAT, Delhi, Mahavir Singh said on Friday that majority of the disputed tax cases in the state are related to institutions – government departments.
“About 60% of the appeals before the Goa bench are from institutional tax payers. On an average, 70 new appeal cases are filed per month by institutions,” he said.
Pan-India, the appeals before ITAT are growing at 5-6% annually. “Litigation and filing of appeals are rising but in equal pace, our disposal is high.”
“Over a period, the tribunal has brought down the pendency from 3 lakh to 40,000 cases,” said Singh.
The ITAT is India’s oldest quasi- institution in the field of direct taxes. It is the highest fact-finding authority in direct taxes and handles income tax litigations pertaining to Sections 252-255, of the IT Act.
“Emerging challenges before the tribunal in the coming years are international litigation and transfer pricing taxation. Moreover, adjudication of tax disputes from the forthcoming new Income Tax Bill, 2025, is also a challenge,” said Singh, speaking in the presence of ITAT officials Amit Shukla, R K Panda and Prashant Maharishi.
The ITAT is marking its 84th year with a two-day conference of tribunal members, stakeholders, taxation professionals and legal experts on July-12-13. The purpose of the conference is educative as well as to propagate the new Income Tax Bill, which is scheduled for implementation in April 2026, after it was passed in both the Houses of Parliament.
The event is expected to provide a vital forum for reflecting on the evolution of the tax jurisdiction, reaffirm institutional values and engage in the emerging challenges in the realm of tax adjudication.
Battery of luminaries such as Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan, Union minister of State for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, Bombay High Court Justice Ashwin Damodar Bhobe, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and ICAI president Charan Jyot Singh Nanda will attend the inaugural session on Saturday.
A stakeholders’ meeting has also been scheduled to foster constructive dialogue between the judiciary, the revenue department and the tax bar. The valedictory session will be held on July 13.
