In a bid to go tax-friendly, the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT ) is going to observe a fortnight a fortnight in June 2018 for appeal effect and rectification for clearing up pendency and redressing the public grievance.
A letter issued by the CBDT Member to the higher officials of the income tax department pointed out that the redressal of the public grievance and taxpayer service is an is an area of top priority for the Government.
The delay in giving appeal effect and passing rectification orders is the biggest source of grievance against the Department. Moreover, such delays also adversely affect the performance of the Department as the infructuous demand remains stuck in appeal orders and rectification petitions till these are disposed of by the assessing officer, the letter said.
The fortnight will focus on expeditious disposal of the pending appeals and rectification claims of the taxpayers.
During the period of 1st to 15th June 2018, all assessing officers shall accord top priority to work of giving appeal effect and passing the rectification orders, and shall earmark the first half of the day to meet applicants/ counsels who seek to have a hearing to explain their case.
The letter directs that in the area of rectification, special attention may be given to demands disputed by the taxpayer in response to proceedings u/s 245 as delay in such cases is creating widespread dissatisfaction amongst taxpayers. Wherever challan correction is required to be carried out to give credit for pre-paid taxes, the same should also be taken up on priority. For this purpose, the supervisory officers must ensure that the deductors are made to file correction statements whenever there is a mismatch because of failure to deductor to file quarterly statement properly and correctly, the letter said.
The supervisory officers shall monitor effective utilization of the fortnight for the purposes explained above.
