How To File an Appeal Before Commissioner of Income Tax?

Any person or an assessee who is aggrieved by an order of an Assessing Officer (AO), can file an appeal against the order before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) by submitting Form 35 online on the Income tax e-Filing portal within 30 days from the date of service of order or demand.

Procedure Of Filing an Appeal

After filing Form no. 35 on the income- tax portal,

1. The Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) will communicate to the taxpayer and the Assessing Officer for whose order is preferred about the date and place for hearing the appeal by issuing a notice to both parties.
2. On the date of hearing the taxpayer or the Assessing Officer can either appear personally or through an authorized representative.
3. The Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) would either hear the appeal or may adjourn the appeal from time to time as he may think fit.
4. Before passing the order, the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeal) may either or may direct the Assessing Officer to make necessary inquiries as he may deem fit and report the result directly to him.
5. During the appeal, the taxpayer also has a right to go into additional grounds of appeal which is correlated to it. However, additional grounds will only be accepted by the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) if he is satisfied that the omission of these grounds was not willful or unreasonable.

Orders Which Are Appealable by Assessee

Section 246A lists the orders against which an appeal can be filed before the Commissioner of

Income-tax (Appeals). Some of them are given as below:

1. Notice passed against the taxpayer in a case where is not satisfied with the notice passed under Income Tax Act.
2. Notice issued under section 143(1) (1B) where adjustments have been directed in the return of income.
3. Notice issued under section 200A (1) where adjustments have been made in the filed statement.
4. Notice issued under section 143(3) except in case of a judgment passed by the Dispute Resolution Panel.
5. A notice of assessment or reassessment passed under section 153A or under section 158BC in case of search/seizure.
6. Rectification order passed under section 154 or under section 155.

Fees For Filing Appeal Before CIT

Fees for filing an Appeal before CIT (Appeal) depend upon total income determined by the Assessing Officer. Fees to be paid are as follows

Documents To Be Submitted for Appeal

• Form No. 35 (including a statement of facts and grounds of appeal) – in duplicate.
• One certified copy of the order for whom the appeal must be filed.
• Notice of demand in the original.
• Copy of challans of fees and the details of the challan (i.e., BSR code, date of payment of fee, serial number, and amount of fee) are required to be furnished in case of e-filing of the form of appeal

The author Sushant Gangurde is a legal analyst who aims to educate people about various tax laws and financial planning.