New Delhi, Apr 10 (PTI) The Income Tax Department disposed of 2.22 lakh appeals during the last financial year, a nearly 29 per cent increase compared to the previous fiscal as part of its efforts to reduce disputes with taxpayers, according to official data.

Officials told PTI that CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal wrote a fiscal-end letter to the department's staffers praising their efforts for the past year and stressed that their actions in the current fiscal (2026-27) should be "guided" by data, "proportionate" actions and aligned with the larger objective of providing a "fair and efficient" tax system.

He told the officials that the department has "significantly" strengthened the use of data analytics and intelligence-driven approaches to identify risks and guide enforcement actions.

Agrawal said the taxman undertook "theme-based" investigations to check issues like incorrect claims of deductions and systemic suppression of business receipts by certain entities across the country.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the policy-making body for the tax department.

In his letter of April 9, the CBDT chief also spoke about some "collective achievements" of the department in the past fiscal year (2025-26).

He said the department disposed of 2,22,540 appeals during the last fiscal, compared to 1,72,361 appeals addressed during the comparative 2024-25 fiscal, representing a growth of 29.11 per cent.

Of the 1,51,239 legacy appeals pending at the beginning of the year, 50,654 cases have been disposed of through a "special drive" reinforcing our "commitment" to bringing "certainty" to the tax system, he stated in the letter, as per officials.

As a result, the carry-forward pendency of legacy appeals has reduced by 33.49 per cent compared to last year, Agrawal said.

The Chairman said 72,933 grievances were disposed of during the last fiscal, with an average resolution time of 47 days.

A total of 1,32,125 rectification applications were processed, 5,68,621 orders giving effect (OGEs) were issued during the same time period.

More than 10.26 lakh cases were disposed of (across OGEs, rectification orders and grievance redressal), which led to a reduction of Rs 12,33,469 crore in outstanding demand, the letter quoted by the officials said.

The CBDT chairman also mentioned that about 1.56 lakh Trusts (under the charitable institutions and exemptions category) were provided registrations and re-registrations during the last fiscal. Officials said they brought several of these entities into the digital record system because their registrations were recorded in paper format.

The communication also mentioned that the department signed a total of 219 advanced pricing agreements (APAs), a growth of 25.86 per cent over the previous fiscal where 174 APAs were inked.

The APAs aim to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing.

Agrawal reiterated that 2026 holds "special significance" for the department because the new Income Tax Act, 2025 and Income Tax Rules, 2026 have been introduced.

These "reforms" promise enhanced ease of compliance for taxpayers while simultaneously strengthening a non-intrusive, data-driven approach to tax administration, the CBDT chief stated. PTI NES ZMN