CBDT Chairman reports sharp drop in tax appeals, near-complete return processing at 167th Income Tax Day

Addressing the 167th Income Tax Day celebrations, Agrawal presented a report card on the Income Tax Department's performance over the past year.

He noted that the priorities set out by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman both at last year's Income Tax Day and at the PRARAMBH programme in March had guided the Department's work through FY 2025-26.

On litigation reduction, long flagged as a top priority, Agrawal said the Department disposed of over 2.24 lakh appeals during FY 2025-26 -- well above the 1.79 lakh new appeals filed in the same period, resulting in a substantial net reduction in pendency. Nearly 6,000 departmental appeals were also withdrawn in line with revised monetary thresholds. Appeal-effect orders saw a 90.3 per cent disposal rate, with 5.68 lakh of 6.29 lakh cases cleared during the year.

Agrawal reported that almost all verified returns for Assessment Year 2025-26 have now been processed. Of nearly 8.6 crore verified returns, only about 1.5 lakh remain pending. Of 3.82 crore verified refund returns, just 1.47 lakh are still pending, held up in risk assessment.

The Department disposed of 72,933 of 77,765 CPGRAMS grievances filed in FY 2025-26, a 94 per cent disposal rate, while the e-Nivaran system saw 3,26,217 of 3,43,269 grievances resolved, a 95 per cent rate. Agrawal said the Department has also begun tackling root causes of recurring complaints to reduce grievances at source.

On tax certainty, CBDT signed 220 Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) during the year, among the highest annual totals since the programme's inception, taking the cumulative count to 1,035 by March 2026, a figure Agrawal said has been recognised by peer jurisdictions internationally.

Agrawal highlighted several technology initiatives underway, including PAN 2.0, ITBA 2.0, CPC 2.0, INSIGHT 2.0 and IEC 3.0, alongside the SAKSHAM NUDGE framework for data-driven, non-intrusive compliance nudges. The Department's virtual assistant "Kar Saathi" has logged 38 lakh hits to date. On outreach, the Department conducted 304 physical programmes mostly in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities along with 11 Samvaad sessions on the new Income-tax Act and 12 on the new I-T forms, supplemented by short videos, podcasts and digital content.

Agrawal said the past year's priorities were not standalone achievements but parts of a single goal: strengthening trust and confidence in the tax administration. He described this as a shared responsibility resting on voluntary taxpayer compliance, tax professionals, reporting entities such as banks, government institutions, and the Department's own officers.

He thanked the Board's various verticals, including the Exemptions vertical and officers who worked on Rules and Forms under the new Income-tax Act, 2025 and paid tribute to retired officers whose work, he said, laid the foundations the Department builds on today. (ANI)