Appeals and Revision: formula sheet

Key formulas

Time limit

30 days from the date of service of the notice of demand or the order

Day of service is excluded when counting. Late appeal can be admitted if sufficient cause is shown. The cause must explain the whole period of delay, and the Commissioner (Appeals) may weigh whether you could have filed earlier, within the 30 days.

Appeal fee (assessment appeals)

Under the 1961 Act (section 249) slabs: ₹250 if assessed total income ≤ ₹1,00,000 | ₹500 if above ₹1,00,000 and ≤ ₹2,00,000 | ₹1,000 if above ₹2,00,000

These slabs are from section 249 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. They are not confirmed for the Income-tax Act, 2025. Verify the fee against the 2025 Act and the Income-tax Rules, 2026 in your study material. Under the old law, other appeals such as against penalty carried a flat ₹250. Verify that figure too.

Pre-condition for assessment appeals

Return filed: tax payable on returned income must be paid before filing | No return filed: an amount equal to the advance tax payable must be paid

Based on section 249(4) of the 1961 Act. Check the corresponding provision of the 2025 Act. If the condition is not met, the appeal is not admissible.

Powers in assessment appeals

Confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment

Follows section 251 of the 1961 Act, under which there is no power to set aside and refer back for fresh assessment. Verify the corresponding provision of the 2025 Act in your study material before stating this as a rule under the 2025 Act.

Powers in penalty appeals

Confirm, cancel or vary the penalty

Varying includes enhancing, after notice and opportunity. In appeals against other appealable orders, the Commissioner (Appeals) may pass such orders as he thinks fit.

Enhancement safeguard

Enhancement only after notice and a reasonable opportunity of being heard

Enhancement is also limited to matters arising out of the assessment proceedings. An order enhancing without notice is open to challenge.

Time limit for appeal to ITAT

Appeal within 60 days from the date the order is communicated

Count from communication, not from the date of the order. Late appeal can be admitted on sufficient cause.

Memorandum of cross-objections

Within 30 days of receipt of notice of the appeal filed by the other party

Can be filed even if the party did not appeal or the appeal time has expired. Treated as an appeal.

Orders appealable by assessee

Order of Commissioner (Appeals) + certain orders of Principal Commissioner or Commissioner (revision, specified penalty orders)

Learn the list as given in your ICAI material and the Act text.

Department's appeal

Principal Commissioner or Commissioner directs → Assessing Officer files appeal

No direction, no valid departmental appeal.

Rectification by Tribunal

Mistake apparent from record; within 6 months from the end of the month in which the order was passed

Suo motu or on application by assessee or Assessing Officer. Notice and hearing needed if tax goes up or refund goes down.

Stay by Tribunal

Stay may be granted in suitable cases, subject to the conditions and time limits in the Act

Learn the exact conditions and day limits from the 2025 Act text in your ICAI material. Do not carry over figures from the 1961 Act.

Appeal to High Court: forum and ground

Order of ITAT → High Court, only if the case involves a substantial question of law

Facts are final at the Tribunal. The High Court decides only questions of law.

Time limit for High Court appeal

120 days from the date the appellant receives the Tribunal's order (period carried over from the earlier Act; confirm against the Income-tax Act, 2025 in your study material)

Count from receipt, not from the date of the order. The day of receipt is excluded. Delay can be condoned only on sufficient cause shown. Cite the section only after checking the Act.

Who can appeal

Assessee, or Principal Commissioner / Commissioner on behalf of the department

Both sides have the right to appeal. The CBDT monetary filter applies only to the department, not to the assessee.

Memorandum of appeal

Must precisely state the substantial question of law involved

A vague or purely factual ground invites dismissal at the admission stage.

Hearing

Heard only on the question formulated by the Court; other substantial questions only with recorded reasons

The respondent can argue that no substantial question arises.

Decision of the Bench

The appeal is decided by the High Court bench; where judges differ, the point is resolved by majority or referred as the Act provides

The exact bench and reference rule under the 2025 Act should be confirmed with the section in your study material. The judgment should state the points decided and the reasons.

Appeal to Supreme Court

High Court judgment → Supreme Court if High Court certifies the case fit; or SLP under Article 136

Special leave is discretionary. The SLP period is generally 90 days from the High Court judgment, so verify it in your study material.

Departmental monetary limit

No appeal if tax effect is below the CBDT limit for that forum

The limits are fixed by CBDT instruction, differ for the Tribunal, High Court and Supreme Court, and are revised from time to time. In a question, use the limits given in it. Otherwise check the current instruction in your study material.

Section 377: revision against assessee (erroneous and prejudicial)

Erroneous AND prejudicial to the interests of revenue → Commissioner may revise

Both conditions are cumulative. If either is missing, the power cannot be used. Malabar Industrial Co. Ltd. v. CIT (SC) is the key case.

Meaning of erroneous (typical cases)

No inquiry that should have been made | Claim allowed without inquiry | Order against law or binding decision | Order against Board instruction

These are typical cases in which an order is treated as erroneous under section 377. Use them as examples in your answer, linked to the facts given.

Procedure before adverse revision

Opportunity of being heard + inquiry → then order

Under section 377 the Commissioner may enhance or modify the assessment, or cancel it and direct a fresh assessment. No ground beyond erroneous and prejudicial is needed for this. The limitation, the appeal bar and the hearing requirement must still be met.

Limitation for section 377 revision

Two years from the end of the financial year in which the order was passed

Time spent on stay or appeal is excluded as provided in the section.

Bar on section 377 revision

No revision on any matter that has been considered and decided in an appeal

Do not apply section 377 to a point already decided in appeal. An order that is the subject of an appeal is also protected as to the matter being appealed.

Section 378: revision of other orders

Own motion or assessee's application → order must not prejudicially affect the assessee

It is a relief-oriented power. An order harmful to the assessee cannot be passed under it.

Limitation for assessee's application under section 378

One year from the date the order was communicated or the assessee came to know of it, whichever is earlier

This follows the position carried over from the old section 264. Confirm the exact wording against the Income-tax Act, 2025 text. Under that position, the Commissioner may admit a late application if the assessee shows sufficient cause.

Bars on section 378 revision

No revision if: appeal lies, time has not expired and right not waived in writing | order is the subject of an appeal to Commissioner (Appeals) | order is the subject of an appeal to ITAT

These bars are stated as carried over from the earlier position. Confirm them against the 2025 Act text. A pending appeal is a bar. Waiver in writing matters only where an appeal lies but has not been filed and the time to file has not expired.

Forum by stage

Draft order issued to eligible assessee → DRP objections or DRC; Final order passed → appeal; Order erroneous and prejudicial to revenue → revision; Transaction not yet done → advance ruling

Always identify the stage of the dispute first. The stage usually decides the forum.

DRP: who is eligible

Draft order is issued where the proposed variation is prejudicial to the interest of an eligible assessee, that is, a foreign company or a person in whose case a transfer pricing variation is proposed

Resident companies without a transfer pricing variation cannot go to the DRP. They go to the Commissioner (Appeals). Being a foreign company is not enough by itself: the proposed variation must be prejudicial to the assessee's interest.

DRP: objection window

Objections are filed with the DRP within 30 days from the date the draft order is received, and the Assessing Officer must be informed of the filing

The period runs from receipt, not from the date of issue. The exact deadline cannot be fixed from the issue date alone. The intimation to the Assessing Officer is separate from the filing with the DRP. Alternatively, the assessee may accept the variation, and the officer then completes the assessment. If no objection is filed, the final order follows the draft order.

DRP: directions and final order

DRP issues directions after considering the record and evidence; Assessing Officer then passes the final order in line with those directions

The DRP may confirm, reduce or enhance the variation proposed in the draft order, after giving the assessee an opportunity of being heard. The directions bind the officer. The order is appealed to the Tribunal, not the Commissioner (Appeals).

DRC: conditions

Eligible = within the income and variation limits + draft order or specified variation + not an excluded case

Check the limits in the current Act and rules. Excluded cases include search cases and those involving prosecution or specified serious matters.

Advance ruling: binding effect

Ruling binds applicant and tax authorities, for that applicant and that transaction only

It is not a general precedent. Confirm the challenge route in the current text.

Revision conditions

Order erroneous AND prejudicial to the interests of the revenue

Both conditions must be met. Where the assessee applies for revision, the authority can also pass an order for the assessee's benefit.

Quick revision

• The ladder is Commissioner (Appeals), then ITAT, then High Court, then Supreme Court.
• Always name the order being challenged before naming the forum.
• Every appeal has a time limit, a prescribed form and a fee, so state all three in answers.
• Delay in filing may be condoned only if you show sufficient cause.
• The ITAT is the final fact-finding authority, so later appeals lie on questions of law.
• High Court appeals need a substantial question of law.
• Revision is exercised by the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner over orders of subordinate authorities.
• Suo motu revision is the Commissioner's own power. It applies to an order that is erroneous and prejudicial to the revenue. It is barred on points that were considered and decided in appeal, and on points still subject to appeal.
• Revision on the assessee's application is a separate power, meant for orders prejudicial to the assessee. It is not available once an appeal has been filed against the order. If no appeal has been filed, revision remains available, and the application must be made within the prescribed time limit. The assessee may also waive the right of appeal. Confirm the section number against the Income-tax Act, 2025 before quoting it.
• Settlement and dispute resolution are options to end a dispute without long litigation, with eligibility conditions.
• Close every answer with a clear conclusion on forum, limit and relief.
• Use the tax year terminology of the 2025 Act, never older terms.

Common mistakes

• Counting 30 days from the date of the order instead of the date of service of the notice of demand or order. Fix: Always write the date of service first. Count from the next day.
• Saying the Commissioner (Appeals) can set aside the assessment and send it back to the Assessing Officer. Fix: For CIT(A) in assessment appeals, remember the four powers: confirm, reduce, enhance, annul. Under section 251 of the 1961 Act there is no power to set aside and remand. Verify the corresponding provision of the 2025 Act before you write it as a rule under that Act.
• Counting 60 days from the date of the order instead of the date of communication. Fix: Always look for the date of communication in the case. Start counting from the next day.
• Saying that cross-objections can be filed only by a party who has also filed an appeal. Fix: A cross-objection can be filed by a party who did not appeal or is out of time. The only requirement is receipt of notice of the other side's appeal and filing within 30 days.
• Counting the 120 days from the date of the Tribunal's order. Fix: Always read the question for the date of receipt. The period runs from receipt of the order by the appellant.
• Arguing that the High Court will re-examine the evidence. Fix: Write that the High Court decides only substantial questions of law. Facts are final unless the finding is perverse or has no evidence.
• Treating any order that loses tax as revisable. Fix: Always test both conditions. If the Assessing Officer took a permissible view after inquiry, the order is not erroneous even if revenue is worse off.
• Saying the Commissioner can enhance tax under section 378. Fix: Section 378 covers other orders and cannot prejudicially affect the assessee. Only section 377 can increase the assessment.
• Writing that every assessee can go to the DRP against a draft order. Fix: Always state that the DRP is for foreign companies and persons with a transfer pricing variation, where the proposed variation is prejudicial to them. Others go to the Commissioner (Appeals).
• Treating the Settlement Commission as a live forum in a fresh case. Fix: Say it has been abolished, and that the Interim Board for Settlement was constituted only to dispose of applications already pending. It is not a replacement for fresh cases. Do not say the DRC fully replaces it. Point to the DRC and notified dispute schemes as separate routes.

Exam tips

• Mention the date of service and show the 30-day count as a one-line calculation. Examiners reward the date arithmetic.
• In case scenarios, check for the hidden trap: payment condition not met, wrong fee slab, a late filing with part of the delay unexplained, or an enhancement without notice.
• Write the Commissioner's powers by type of appeal: assessment (confirm, reduce, enhance, annul) and penalty (confirm, cancel, vary).
• Use the Income-tax Act, 2025 vocabulary, such as tax year, in every answer. Do not use assessment year. For fee amounts and the payment condition, take the section numbers and figures from the 2025 Act and Rules in your study material.
• For MCQs, an option saying the Commissioner (Appeals) can set aside and remand is likely to be wrong in an assessment appeal under the 1961 Act position. Check the 2025 Act provision in your study material before you rely on it.
• Write the time limits first in any answer: 60 days, 30 days, six months. Examiners give marks for them.
• In a date-based case, show the counting in one line. A wrong final date with correct counting still earns method marks.
• For a department appeal, always mention the direction from the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner.