ITAT Appeal Filing Chartered Accountant

Applicable law and source notes

Statute and year: Appeals relating to AY 2026–27 or earlier continue under the Income-tax Act, 1961, including appeals filed after 1 April 2026, under the savings in section 536 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The 1961 Act sections and Forms 35/36 discussed here concern those proceedings; confirm the applicable Act and prescribed form for a later tax year. The transition does not revive an expired appeal deadline.

https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/help/all-topics/e-filing-services/appeals-and-revisions

https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/w/appeal-to-the-income-tax-appellate-tribunal

Last updated: 21 Aug 2026

Looking for an ITAT appeal filing chartered accountant? Virtual Auditor provides practitioner-grade income tax litigation services across India, led by CA V. Viswanathan — Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) | Associate Company Secretary (ACS) | Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). We draft grounds of appeal, prepare paper books, file Form 36 and stay applications, and appear before Income Tax Appellate Tribunal benches to overturn adverse CIT(A) orders.

What Is the ITAT and Where It Sits in the Appeal Chain

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) is the second appellate stage in the direct-tax dispute pipeline. When an assessee is aggrieved by an assessment order, the first appeal lies before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) — now largely the National Faceless Appeal Centre, or CIT(A)/NFAC. If the CIT(A) order is still adverse, the next appeal is to the ITAT under Section 253 of the Income-tax Act, 1961. Crucially, the ITAT is the final fact-finding authority: its findings on questions of fact are ordinarily conclusive, and any further appeal to the High Court under Section 260A is confined to substantial questions of law. This makes the ITAT stage the single most important opportunity to build and prove the factual record — evidence, valuations, working papers and reconciliations must all be placed on record here, because the High Court will not re-appreciate facts.

The ITAT is a quasi-judicial body constituted under the Ministry of Law and Justice, not the tax department, so it functions independently of the assessing officer and the Commissioner. Benches usually sit in Division Bench form — one Judicial Member and one Accountant Member — and hear appeals by both the taxpayer and the Department. Because both sides can appeal a CIT(A) order, a favourable CIT(A) order does not always end the matter: the Department frequently files its own appeal, and the assessee then defends or files cross-objections.

Form 36, Form 36A and the 60-Day Limitation

An appeal to the ITAT is filed in Form 36, prescribed under Rule 47 of the Income-tax Rules. It sets out the appellant's details, the order appealed against, the relief claimed and the concise grounds of appeal. A memorandum of cross-objections is filed in Form 36A. The appeal must be filed within two months from the end of the month in which the appealed order is communicated (section 253(3), as amended effective 1 October 2024). This amended deadline runs from the end of the communication month, not the date the order was signed — so retaining proof of the date of service is essential.

Where an appeal is filed after the applicable statutory deadline, the Tribunal has power to admit it if it is satisfied there was sufficient cause for the delay. Condonation is not automatic: a supporting affidavit explaining the cause of delay, day by day, must accompany the appeal. Every appeal must be accompanied by the prescribed fee, a certified copy of the CIT(A) order and the assessment order, and the grounds of appeal. Getting Form 36 right — correct grounds, correct disputed-income figure, correct fee slab — avoids defect memos and preserves limitation.

Appeal Fees Under Section 253

The filing fee for an ITAT appeal is governed by Section 253(6) and is calculated on the total income assessed by the Assessing Officer for the relevant year.

Assessed total income up to Rs 1,00,000: fee Rs 500.

More than Rs 1,00,000 up to Rs 2,00,000: fee Rs 1,500.

More than Rs 2,00,000: 1% of assessed income, subject to a maximum of Rs 10,000.

Where the subject of appeal is not related to assessed income: fee Rs 500.

A separate fee of Rs 500 applies to a stay application. Fees are paid by challan and the challan details are quoted in Form 36. There is no filing fee for a memorandum of cross-objections in Form 36A. Because the fee is tied to assessed income rather than the disputed amount, mis-stating the slab is a common defect — we verify the correct slab before filing.

Stay of Demand Applications

Filing an appeal does not automatically stay recovery. A separate stay request must be made to the competent authority for the stage of proceedings. Section 220(6) concerns the Assessing Officer's discretion during the relevant first appeal; section 220(7) is not a general escalation power for the Commissioner. ITAT relief under section 254(2A) concerns an appeal before the Tribunal. Payment or security conditions, current case law and the terms of the actual stay order must be checked before relying on protection. Neither grant nor extension of a stay is guaranteed.

Paper Book Preparation and the Evidence Rules

The paper book is the indexed, paginated compilation of every document the appellant intends to rely on — the assessment order, CIT(A) order, returns, financial statements, notices, replies and supporting evidence. Under Rule 18 of the Income Tax (Appellate Tribunal) Rules, 1963, the paper book must be filed, properly indexed and certified as true copies, ordinarily at least a week before the hearing, with a copy served on the other side. A carelessly assembled paper book undermines even a strong case; a well-organised one lets the Bench find the decisive document in seconds.

The general rule under Rule 29 is that parties are not entitled to produce additional evidence before the Tribunal. The Tribunal may, however, admit additional evidence where it requires a document to enable it to pass orders, or where the lower authorities refused to admit evidence that ought to have been admitted, or where the assessee was prevented by sufficient cause from producing it earlier. Any additional evidence must be moved by a specific application with reasons. Because the ITAT is the last fact-finding forum, deciding what evidence to place on record — and framing the request to admit it — is a core part of the strategy.

Cross-Objections

When the Department files an appeal against a CIT(A) order that was partly in the assessee's favour, the assessee (as respondent) may file cross-objections in Form 36A within 30 days of receiving notice of the Department's appeal. Cross-objections let the respondent challenge those parts of the CIT(A) order that went against it, even points on which it had itself accepted the order, so that the whole controversy is before the Bench. There is no filing fee for cross-objections, and they are heard together with the main appeal. Even where an assessee chose not to appeal a particular finding, cross-objections can revive that ground once the Department opens the matter.

What Happens at the Hearing

On the notified date, the appeal is called before the Bench. The appellant's authorised representative — a chartered accountant or advocate — opens by taking the Bench through the grounds, the paper book and the relevant case law; the Departmental Representative responds; and the appellant may reply. The Members ask questions, and the representative must be able to point to the exact page of the paper book and the precise proposition of law. The Bench may reserve the order or, in straightforward matters, dictate it. The order, once pronounced, disposes of the grounds and either upholds, reverses or remands the CIT(A)'s findings. Because the ITAT decides facts finally, the quality of oral argument and the completeness of the record at this hearing largely determine the outcome.

Written Submissions Before the Tribunal

A written submission (also called written arguments or a synopsis) is the document in which the appellant sets out, in continuous prose, the full argument on each ground — the facts, the statutory provisions relied on, the reasoning, and the case law applied to those facts. It is distinct from the grounds of appeal in Form 36: the grounds are a terse, numbered list of the errors alleged in the CIT(A) order and merely define the scope of what the Tribunal may decide, whereas the written submission is where each of those grounds is actually argued and supported. In practice the written submission expands ground 1, ground 2 and so on into paragraphs, cross-referring to the page numbers of the paper book for every factual assertion and citing the exact paragraph of each judgment relied on.

At the hearing the written submission serves two purposes. First, it is handed up to the Bench (with a copy to the Departmental Representative) so the Members can follow the oral argument and retain a record of it while writing the order; a clear synopsis often shapes how the reasoning appears in the final order. Second, where a matter is heard and the argument is complex, the Bench may direct both sides to file written submissions within a stated time after the hearing, and the appeal is then decided on those papers. A good written submission is concise, ground-wise, tied to the paper book and to binding precedent, and free of new factual claims that are not already on record — because, the ITAT being the final fact-finding forum, arguments must stand on the evidence already filed. We draft the written submission alongside the grounds and the paper book so that the three documents work as one coherent case.

Appeal to the High Court Under Section 260A

A party aggrieved by an ITAT order may appeal to the jurisdictional High Court under Section 260A within 120 days of receiving the order — but only where the case involves a substantial question of law. The High Court will not re-examine findings of fact; it decides the question of law it formulates. This is why the ITAT stage is decisive: if a fact is not proved before the Tribunal, it cannot be resurrected on the plea of a legal question later. Beyond the High Court, an appeal lies to the Supreme Court under Section 261, again on substantial questions of law and subject to certification or special leave.

Our End-to-End Process

Step 1: Review of the assessment order, CIT(A)/NFAC order and the date of service to fix limitation. Step 2: Strategy — grounds of appeal, identification of substantial legal issues, and case-law research from ITAT, High Court and Supreme Court precedent. Step 3: Drafting and e-filing of Form 36 with the correct Section 253 fee slab, and, where recovery is a threat, a stay application. Step 4: Preparation of the indexed, certified paper book and any Rule 29 application for additional evidence. Step 5: Representation at the Bench hearing, filing of cross-objections where the Department appeals, and post-order advisory on a Section 260A High Court appeal if warranted.

Get Started Today

Ready to engage an ITAT appeal consultant? Contact us for a free initial case assessment. The 60-day limitation runs from the date you receive the CIT(A) order, so act promptly.

Call/WhatsApp: +91 99622 60333

Email: support@virtualauditor.in

Offices: Chennai | Bangalore | Mumbai

No obligation. We will assess your requirements and provide a clear scope, timeline, and fixed-fee quote within 24 hours.

What has changed in the law — reviewed October 2026

• Angel tax: section 56(2)(viib) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 does not apply from assessment year 2025-26 (Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024), so share premium received from any investor is no longer taxed under that clause. Valuations are still required under separate regimes, each with its own law and signing professional: fair market value under Rule 11UA(1)(c) of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 for section 56(2)(x) in the recipient's hands (net-asset basis for unquoted equity shares); FEMA pricing for a non-resident investor under the FEM (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, certified by a Chartered Accountant, SEBI-registered merchant banker or practising cost accountant; a registered valuer's report under section 247 of the Companies Act, 2013 and Rule 13 of the Companies (Share Capital and Debentures) Rules, 2014 for preferential allotments under section 62(1)(c); and grant-date fair value of the option under Ind AS 102 for ESOP accounting (reviewed 25 October 2026).

Engagement terms — reviewed 25 October 2026

• Fee: ITR filing from ₹2,999 + 18% GST. Tax audit under section 44AB from ₹35,000 + 18% GST. Reply to a notice from ₹15,000 + 18% GST. Appeal to CIT(A) from ₹35,000 + 18% GST, with the statutory appeal fee (₹250 to ₹1,000 under section 249) extra.
• Extra / not included: Stay petitions, rectification under section 154 after the appeal, and ITAT appeals are separate engagements. No outcome is guaranteed.
• Turnaround: Notice replies within 7 working days from receipt of complete information and the advance payment and before the compliance date; returns and audit reports by the statutory due date when data is received at least 10 working days before it.
• Who signs: Filings and replies are prepared and signed by V. Viswanathan FCA or another qualified Chartered Accountant of the practice, depending on the engagement.
• Entity: Tax audit reports (Form 3CA/3CB and 3CD) are engaged and invoiced by V Viswanathan & Associates, Chartered Accountants (FRN 013713S); return filing, notice replies and appeal drafting are engaged and invoiced by Virtual Auditor Private Limited.
• What to send first: Send the notice or order with its date of service, Form 26AS/AIS, the return and computation for the year, and the income-tax portal login.
• Next step: Send your enquiry on WhatsApp to +91 99622 60333; we confirm the scope, fee and timeline in writing before work starts.