New Delhi, Jan 21 (KNN) The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has asked its field officers to conclude the withdrawal of appeals of tax litigations in in Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and High Courts by January end.

In a letter to all principal commissioners over the country, CBDT said, “The entire exercise of withdrawal of appeals must conclude by January end.”

Based on data received so far there is substantial scope for withdrawal of identified appeals, said the letter dated January 15.

“Kindly ensure that immediate efforts are made to arrange personal meetings with senior officials of registry of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and High Court so that appeal withdrawal process is completed quickly,” it added.

According to a media report, nearly 23% of the 8,300 appeals in high courts and 22.8% of 7,785 appeals at ITAT are still to be withdrawn by tax officials.

In order to cut down on tax litigation, the monetary thresholds at each level for filing appeals in tribunals was raised to Rs 20 lakh, while that for high courts and the Supreme Court was raised to Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore, respectively.

The previous threshold for filing appeals in tribunals was Rs 10 lakh, while for high courts and the Supreme Court, they were Rs 20 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, respectively.

This move resulted in 41% reduction in litigation for CBDT.