Raising the income-limit of the cases that may be decided by single member bench of ITAT

[Admin TMI]

Question - What the propose in Finance Bill 2015 regarding the powers of single member bench of ITAT?

[Admin TMI]

Raising the income-limit of the cases that may be decided by single member bench of ITAT

The existing provision contained in sub-section (3) of section 255 of the Income-tax Act provides for constitution of a single member bench and a Special Bench. It provides that single member bench may dispose of any case which pertains to an assessee whose total income as computed by the Assessing Officer does not exceed five lakh rupees. The limit of five lakh rupees for a single member bench was last revised in 1998.

Accordingly, it is proposed to amend sub-section (3) of section 255 of the Income-tax Act so as to provide that a bench constituted of a single member may dispose of a case where the total income as computed by the Assessing Officer does not exceed fifteen lakh rupees.

This amendment will take effect from 1st day of June, 2015.

AI Summary

Single member bench income limit increased, expanding eligible taxpayer cases for single-member disposition by Finance Bill amendment
An amendment in the Finance Bill, 2015 proposes revising sub section (3) of section 255 to raise the monetary threshold for cases that a single member bench of the Income tax Appellate Tribunal may dispose of, increasing the income limit previously set in 1998 and thereby expanding the class of cases eligible for single member disposition, with the amendment to commence in mid 2015.