The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued guidelines for the department to properly defend cases at the CIT (appeals) level, since a recourse would not be available for a further appeal in the tribunal in case of a loss, given the threshold for the revenue consideration has been raised to Rs 20 lakh by the government last year.

The government last year raised the monetary threshold for further appeals in tax cases. The department can now appeal in tribunal against a CIT(A) order only if the revenue consideration is above Rs 20 lakh. It was earlier Rs10 lakh.

Appeals would be filed in high courts if the tax amount involved in litigation is Rs 50 lakh, up from Rs 20 lakh at present. For the Supreme Court, the threshold limit has been hiked to Rs 1 crore, from Rs 25 lakh at present.