The Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1812, answered on August 04, 2026, on “Ease of Tax Compliance and Dispute Resolution” was answered by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Shri Pankaj Chaudhary. The Question sought details of measures taken by the Income Tax Department to facilitate transition from the Income-tax Act, 1961 to the Income-tax Act, 2025, reduction in tax litigation following revised monetary limits for departmental appeals, and initiatives undertaken by the CBDT to ease taxpayer compliance.
The Government informed the Rajya Sabha that the Income Tax Department has launched PRARAMBH 2026 — Policy Reform and Responsible Action for Mission Viksit Bharat, a nationwide awareness campaign to facilitate the rollout of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The initiative includes taxpayer workshops, multilingual awareness material, Frequently Asked Questions, publication of “KAR SETU – The Bridge between the Old and New Tax Act”, an interactive quiz on the MyGov platform and print and outdoor publicity campaigns.
Digital initiatives promoted under the campaign include the Income Tax Website 2.0 and the AI-enabled chatbot “Kar Saathi”, aimed at assisting taxpayers in understanding provisions of the new tax law and easing their transition to the revised compliance framework.
As part of the taxpayer awareness programme, extensive multilingual educational material has been developed and disseminated. Brochures on newly introduced forms and procedures have been prepared in English, Hindi and 10 regional languages, while more than 1.75 lakh copies of brochures and other publications have been distributed through field formations and Aaykar Seva Kendras (ASKs).
The Department has also used QR-enabled brochures to provide access to digital explanatory material and Samvaad video sessions. The AI-enabled Kar Saathi chatbot has additionally been deployed to assist taxpayers in understanding the provisions of the new Income-tax Act.
The Government stated that a total of 304 physical outreach events were organised under PRARAMBH 2026 across the country in English, Hindi and regional languages. Around 50,000 taxpayers and stakeholders participated in these programmes.
On tax dispute resolution, the Government informed the House that monetary limits for filing departmental appeals were enhanced through CBDT Circular No. 9/2024 dated September 17, 2024. Following the revised limits, 5,978 cases were withdrawn and 17,489 appeals were not filed, taking the total number of cases affected by the higher monetary thresholds to 23,467.
At the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) level, 443 cases were withdrawn and 11,390 appeals were not filed following issuance of the Circular, resulting in an estimated reduction of ₹3,662.82 crore in disputed tax demand.
At the High Court level, 4,791 cases were withdrawn and 5,565 appeals were not filed, with an estimated reduction of ₹9,218.71 crore in disputed tax demand. At the Supreme Court level, 744 cases were withdrawn and 534 appeals were not filed, leading to an estimated reduction of ₹3,807.15 crore.
Taken together, the revised monetary limits resulted in an estimated ₹16,688.68 crore reduction in disputed tax demand across the ITAT, High Courts and the Supreme Court, indicating a significant easing of the Government’s direct tax litigation burden.
The Government also said that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has taken several measures during the last five years to simplify tax compliance and improve taxpayer services. These include introduction of the facility to file an updated return and electronic issuance of certificates for deduction of income-tax at lower or nil rates.
Other measures include allowing declarations for no deduction of tax at source to be filed directly with the depository, reducing compliance requirements in the sale of immovable property by a non-resident to a resident individual or Hindu Undivided Family, and removal of higher TDS/TCS provisions for non-filers of Income Tax Returns.
The CBDT has also undertaken rationalisation of transfer pricing provisions for multi-year arm’s length price determination, provided a facility to an associated entity of a person entering into an Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) to file a modified return, simplified and rationalised the safe harbour regime, and expanded the presumptive taxation scheme.
The Answer can be accessed at: https://a2ztaxcorp.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/RS-Ease-of-tax-compliance-and-dispute-resolution-04.08.2026.pdf
