Hyderabad: Income-tax Department of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana region has withdrawn 969 appeals before the Supreme Court, Andhra Pradesh High Court, High Court of Telangana and Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, as part of its drive to reduce litigation.
A press note issued by the office of the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax informed that the cases were withdrawn in pursuance of Circular no 17/2019 issued by CBDT on August 8, 2019. The department will not contest cases with tax effects below Rs. 50 lakhs before ITAT, below Rs. 1 crore before High Court and below Rs. 2 crores before Supreme Court. Details are as below:
| Appellate forum | No. of cases withdrawn | Tax effect (in crores) |
| AP High Court | 87 | 35 |
| Telangana High Court | 452 | 219 |
| ITAT | 407 | 119 |
| SC | 23 | 29 |
| TOTAL | 969 | 403 |
In 2018-2019 also, the department withdrew 892 cases, of which 33 were cases before the Supreme Court, 441 appeals before High Court and 418 appeals before ITAT. This action of the Department is meant to reduce litigation as a friendly measure to the taxpayers.
