ITAT e-filing portal: Income Tax Appellate Tribunal president explains how it will enable taxpayers file online appeals, says a step towards paperless court room

Taking a step towards Digital India and bringing in more transparency and comfort, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday launched e-filing portal of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). Dubbed as ‘itat e-dwar’, will not only enhance the accessibility, accountability and transparency in the day to day working of the ITAT, but will also allow taxpayers to file online appeals, applications, documents etc from the comfort of their home.   

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Talking to Zee Business ITAT president Justice PP Bhatt said that e-filing portal will be totally paperless. " We have been working on ITAT e-filing portal for the past three to four months. Now, a person can file their appeal/proceedngs through their lawyer or Chartered Accountant from their home itself at a click of a button. Once we will start accumulating this digitalised record, we plan to take this step in paperless court in the coming times. I am happy to share that we have already started a paperless court as a pilot project in a Delhi court room." 

Earlier in a press release issued by the Ministry of Justic, Bhattsaid that ‘itat e-dwar’ will enhance the accessibility, accountability and transparency in the day to day working of the ITAT.  It would not only result in economization of the use of paper, savings in costs but also rationalization of the fixation of cases leading to quicker disposal of cases.  He said that even during the pandemic, by using the tools of information and communication technology, various benches of ITAT have functioned and kept up its activity of judicial dispensation.  It was revealed that inspite of the restricted functioning of Benches, the adoption of Video Conferencing has brought down the pendency of cases to about 64,500 as against 88,000 on 1st April, 2020. 

The newly developed e-Filing Portal would enable the parties to file their Appeals, Miscellaneous Applications, documents, paper books, etc., electronically. 

Earlier speaking on the launch on June 26, Ravi Shankar Prasad highlighted that nearly 129 crore of the Indian population are enrolled for Aadhar.  "Nearly 40 crore bank accounts have been opened for the poor and linked to Aadhar. Digital India has positioned our country as a world leader in digital payments.  It needs to be highlighted that Aadhar, DBT, UPI and the health scheme, Ayushman Bharat, all are ‘made in India," he said. 

Ravi Shankar Prasad said that this initiative of ITAT must not be seen as a solitary step.  Instead, it should be seen as a larger narrative of transformation that the country is undergoing through digital medium.  It enables innovation and empowerment and opens new avenues for growth.  He expressed hope that ‘itat e-dwar’ will be widely accepted by the lawyers and tax litigants alike. 

On this ITAT portal launch, a virtual function was organized at the national level which was attended by the functionaries of ITAT from all the 28 stations.