Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

17-March-2016 18:25 IST

The guidelines and procedure for attending to objections raised in the course of audit of assessment work by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Revenue Audit) are laid down in the Instruction No of 2006 issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).  The Instruction inter-alia mandates the initiation of remedial action in case the Revenue Audit Objection is not accepted by the Department.

The Board has considered the effect of such remedial action and its ultimate fate in appeal and decided to modify the existing instruction for dealing with remedial action on Revenue Audit objections that are not accepted by the Department.  A Circular (Circular No. 8/2016) has been issued today deleting para 4 and para 5 of the Instruction and replacing them with fresh guidelines and procedures for dealing with Revenue Audit objections.

The modified Instruction will avoid creation of un-collectible demand and reduce litigation with the assessee in such cases where the Department itself finds the Revenue Audit objection not acceptable. It is another step in the direction of a non-adversarial tax regime.

The Circular is available on the website of the Income Tax Department at www.incimetaxindia.gov.in.

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DSM/KA

Revenue audit remedial action modified to prevent un-collectible demands and reduce litigation with taxpayers. Modification of the administrative framework for revenue audit objections revises procedures for remedial action when audit objections are not accepted by the assessing department. The circular replaces specified paragraphs of the earlier instruction and prescribes fresh guidelines and procedures to govern departmental responses, aiming to prevent creation of un-collectible demand and reduce litigation where the department does not accept the audit objection.