Direct Tax Laws & International Taxation · Appeals and Revision

Appeals to Commissioner (Appeals) under the Income-tax Act, 2025

Updated 5 October 2026 · Fact-checked

An appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) is the first appellate remedy for an assessee aggrieved by specified orders of the Assessing Officer. File it in the prescribed form, with the fee, within 30 days of service of the order or demand notice. The Commissioner (Appeals) may confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment, after hearing you.

Understand Appeals to Commissioner (Appeals)

An assessing officer's order is not final. If you disagree with it, the law gives you a first appeal to a senior officer outside the assessing chain: the Commissioner (Appeals), often called CIT(A). This is a statutory right. It is a full re-look at facts and law, not just a check of procedure.

Not every order can be appealed. The Act lists the orders. In broad terms these include assessment and reassessment orders where you dispute the income, the loss, the tax, the status or the refund; penalty orders; and certain orders against a person treated as an assessee in default for tax deduction or collection. Always check that the order in the question is of a type the Act makes appealable.

The appellant is the person aggrieved by the order. The appeal must be filed in the prescribed form, verified, with the prescribed fee, and within the time limit, which is 30 days from the date of service of the notice of demand or the order. A late appeal can be admitted if you show sufficient cause for the delay.

If the appeal is against an assessment order, a pre-condition applies. Where you filed a return, you must have paid the tax payable on the income returned. Where you filed no return, you must have paid an amount equal to the advance tax that was payable. Under section 249(4) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, an appeal that does not meet this condition is not admissible. The 2025 Act carries the same scheme forward, but check the corresponding provision and section number in the 2025 Act in your study material. Appeals are now conducted largely through the faceless system, so hearings and communication are electronic.

Once the appeal is admitted, the Commissioner (Appeals) can call for evidence, make further enquiry, and then pass a written order. In an assessment appeal the Commissioner (Appeals) may confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment. To annul means to cancel the assessment altogether, for example where it is invalid. In a penalty appeal, the power is to confirm, cancel or vary the penalty. In an appeal against any other appealable order, the Commissioner (Appeals) may pass such orders as he thinks fit. The power to enhance is restricted. Before enhancing an assessment or a penalty, the Commissioner must give you notice and a reasonable opportunity of being heard. The enhancement must also relate to matters arising out of the assessment proceedings, not a new source of income.

Under section 251 of the 1961 Act, the Commissioner (Appeals) has no power to set aside an assessment and send it back to the Assessing Officer for fresh assessment. Whether the 2025 Act carries this position forward is something you must verify in the corresponding provision of the 2025 Act in your study material. Do not write it as a rule under the 2025 Act until you have checked.

Key rules to remember

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.

How to solve Appeals to Commissioner (Appeals) questions

Use this sequence for any case-scenario or written question on appeals to the Commissioner (Appeals). Write the answer in provision, facts and conclusion form.

1Identify the order and check that it is appealable before the Commissioner (Appeals), and that the person is aggrieved by it.
2Fix the date of service of the order or demand notice and count 30 days, excluding the day of service, to find the last date.
3If the appeal is late, ask whether sufficient cause exists for the whole period of delay and conclude on condonation.
4Check the pre-conditions: prescribed form, verification, fee, and the payment condition (tax on returned income if a return was filed, or the advance tax payable if no return was filed). Take the fee slabs from the 2025 Act and Rules in your study material.
5State what the Commissioner (Appeals) may do: confirm, reduce, enhance or annul in assessment appeals, or confirm, cancel or vary in penalty appeals.
6If the facts raise enhancement, check that notice and an opportunity of hearing are given, and that the issue arises out of the assessment proceedings.
7Write a clear conclusion that applies the rule to the figures or dates given, and mention the next appeal to the Appellate Tribunal if relevant.

Quickest way: Four-point check: Order, Date, Defect, Power

When to use it: Use it for MCQs and short case scenarios where you have two to three minutes.

Order: is it an appealable order and are you the aggrieved person?
Date: add 30 days to the date after service and compare it with the filing date.
Defect: check form, fee slab and the payment condition (tax on returned income, or advance tax if no return).
Power: for assessment, the answer is confirm, reduce, enhance or annul, and the position under section 251 of the 1961 Act is that there is no set aside and remand; for enhancement, look for notice.

Common mistakes in Appeals to Commissioner (Appeals)

Counting 30 days from the date of the order instead of the date of service of the notice of demand or order.
Students remember '30 days' but skip what it runs from.
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.
This is confused with the Appellate Tribunal, which can remand.
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.
Ignoring the payment condition before filing an assessment appeal, or stating it only for returned income.
Students focus on the disputed addition and forget the admission condition, and forget the no-return case.
Fix: Add a one-line check in every answer: if a return was filed, has the tax on returned income been paid; if not, has the advance tax payable been paid?
Applying the wrong fee slab, for example using the returned income instead of the assessed total income.
Fee slabs look like return-based figures.
Fix: The fee follows the assessed total income of the order appealed against; a flat fee applies to penalty and other non-assessment orders. Confirm the amounts in the 2025 Act and Rules.
Stating that enhancement can be made without a hearing.
Students think appellate authorities only reduce income.
Fix: Whenever enhancement appears, mention the mandatory notice and reasonable opportunity of being heard.
Treating delay as automatically fatal.
Students read 30 days as absolute.
Fix: State that delay can be condoned on showing sufficient cause, and then test whether the facts show such a cause for the whole delay.

Worked examples

Example 1

Mr. Rao receives an assessment order and a notice of demand, served on 10 March 2027. His assessed total income is ₹6,50,000. He wants to appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals) and files on 25 April 2027, saying he was hospitalised from 1 April to 20 April 2027. He had paid tax on his returned income. Advise on admissibility and fee.

Show the solution

Provision: an appeal lies within 30 days from the date of service of the notice of demand or order, and a late appeal can be admitted on sufficient cause.
Facts: service was on 10 March 2027. Counting 30 days excluding that day, there are 21 days left in March (11 to 31 March) and 9 days in April, so the last date is 9 April 2027.
The appeal was filed on 25 April 2027. The delay runs from 10 April, so it is 16 days late.
Hospitalisation from 1 April to 20 April covers the last 9 days of the limitation period (1 to 9 April) and the first 11 days of the delay (10 to 20 April). So he was hospitalised throughout the period up to 20 April. Only the delay from 21 April to 25 April (5 days) is not covered, so he must explain those days separately.
He was free to file between 11 March and 31 March, before the hospitalisation began. The Commissioner (Appeals) may weigh this when judging sufficient cause, but the hospitalisation overlapping the end of the limitation period supports him. He should file a condonation request with medical records and reasons for the 5 remaining days.
Tax on returned income has been paid, so the pre-condition is met.
Fee: assessed income of ₹6,50,000 falls in the highest slab. Under the old-law (section 249 of the 1961 Act) slabs the fee would be ₹1,000. Verify the amount under the 2025 Act and Rules before relying on it.

Answer: The appeal is 16 days late. It can be admitted only if the Commissioner (Appeals) accepts sufficient cause for the whole delay. Hospitalisation from 1 to 20 April covers the last 9 days of limitation and the delay up to 20 April (11 days), but the 5 days from 21 to 25 April still need an explanation. The Commissioner (Appeals) may weigh that he could have filed between 11 and 31 March. The fee falls in the highest slab: ₹1,000 under the old-law slabs, to be verified under the 2025 Act and Rules.

Example 2

An Assessing Officer assesses a company's total income at ₹20,00,000, after making a disallowance of ₹3,00,000. The company appeals only against that disallowance. A ₹2,00,000 expense was claimed in the return and was allowed by the Assessing Officer in the assessment. While hearing the appeal, the Commissioner (Appeals) notices that this expense appears to be non-deductible. Can the Commissioner (Appeals) enhance the income, and what can he not do?

Show the solution

Provision: in an assessment appeal the Commissioner (Appeals) may confirm, reduce, enhance or annul the assessment, but enhancement needs notice and a reasonable opportunity of hearing.
Facts: the ₹2,00,000 expense was claimed in the return and allowed by the Assessing Officer, so it forms part of the assessment and arises out of the assessment proceedings. It is not a new source of income that the Assessing Officer never considered.
Therefore the Commissioner (Appeals) may issue a show-cause notice proposing enhancement by ₹2,00,000 and hear the company.
If the company's reply fails, the assessed income of ₹20,00,000 (already after the ₹3,00,000 disallowance) may be enhanced by ₹2,00,000 to ₹22,00,000, before any relief on the original ₹3,00,000 disallowance. If the company succeeds on that disallowance, the final figure will be lower.
Under section 251 of the 1961 Act, he cannot set aside the assessment and send it back for fresh assessment; he must decide the matter himself. Verify the corresponding provision of the 2025 Act in your study material before stating this as the rule under that Act.

Answer: Yes, the Commissioner (Appeals) can enhance the income by ₹2,00,000, from ₹20,00,000 to ₹22,00,000 before any relief on the ₹3,00,000 disallowance, after giving notice and an opportunity of being heard. Under section 251 of the 1961 Act he cannot order a fresh assessment by remand. Confirm from the 2025 Act provision in your study material that the same position applies in the tax year 2026-27.

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.

Practice questions from Appeals and Revision

Appeals to Commissioner (Appeals) in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

Appeals to Commissioner (Appeals): frequently asked questions

What is the time limit for filing an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals)?

The appeal must be filed within 30 days from the date of service of the notice of demand or the order. The day of service is excluded. A delayed appeal can be admitted if you show sufficient cause.

Who can file an appeal before the Commissioner (Appeals)?

Any person aggrieved by an order that the Act makes appealable can file, such as an assessee against an assessment or penalty order. In certain cases a person treated as an assessee in default for tax deduction can also appeal.

Can the Commissioner (Appeals) increase my income?

Yes. In an assessment appeal he can enhance the assessment, but only after giving you notice and a reasonable opportunity of being heard. The enhancement should relate to matters arising from the assessment proceedings.

Is the appeal fee the same for every appeal?

No. For assessment appeals the fee depends on the assessed total income slabs, while other appeals, such as against penalty, carry a flat fee. The slabs known to us are from section 249 of the 1961 Act, so check the current figures in the 2025 Act and Rules as given in your study material.