In a bid to minimise litigations pertaining to tax matters, the Centre has decided to increase the threshold monetary limits for filing departmental appeals at various levels, be it Appellate Tribunals, High Courts and the Supreme Court.

The move is expected to reduce taxpayer grievances and also facilitate ‘ease of doing business’.

The threshold monetary limit for the department to file appeal before ITAT/CESTAT has been raised to ₹20 lakh, from ₹10 lakh earlier.

In the case of High Courts, the threshold monetary limit has been revised up to ₹50 lakh, from ₹20 lakh.

For the Supreme Court, the enhanced limit is ₹1 crore, from ₹25 lakh now.

This is a major step in the direction of litigation management of both direct and indirect taxes as it will effectively reduce minor litigations and help the department to focus on high value litigations, an official release said.

The step will also reduce future litigation flow from the department side, the release added. In case of CBDT, out of total cases filed by the department in ITAT, 34 per cent of cases will be withdrawn. In case of High Courts, 48 per cent of cases will be withdrawn and in case of Supreme Court 54 per cent of cases will be withdrawn.

The total percentage of reduction of litigation from the department’s side will get reduced by 41 per cent. However, this will not apply in such cases where substantial point of law is involved, the release added.

Similarly, in case of CBIC, out of total cases filed by the department in CESTAT, 16 per cent of cases will be withdrawn. In case of High Courts, 22 per cent of cases will be withdrawn and in case of Supreme Court 21 per cent of cases will be withdrawn.

The total percentage of reduction of litigation from department’s side will get reduced by 18 per cent. However, this will not apply in such cases where substantial point of law is involved, the release added.

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