Reducing income tax disputes in India | A way forward
India’s tax dispute resolution process compared with other jurisdictions A comparison of India’s administrative procedure to manage income tax disputes with those of four other countriesAustralia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada (a brief outline of the administrative procedures in these countries is at Annexure 1), reveals a significant difference. It is only in India that the tax administration files an appeal
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against an appeal decision in favour of the taxpayer (on a taxpayer appeal) by the CIT(A), who is an officer of the tax administration. This means that both the taxpayer and the tax administration (assessment wing) can appeal to the tax tribunal (i.e., the ITAT) against the decision
of the appeals wing [CIT(A)] of the tax administration. In all other tax administrations, the order issued by the tax administration on a taxpayer appeal is taken as final and only the taxpayer can file an appeal to the Tax Tribunal if he is not satisfied with the order.
