ITAT appeal under Form 36 — complete 2026 walkthrough

Form 36 under the Income Tax Act 1961 is the appeal memorandum filed before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT). For working tax counsel in 2026 — assessees fighting CIT(A) orders, departments fighting deletion of additions, both sides cross-objecting — Form 36 is the most-filed memo in the tax-litigation calendar. This post is the practical walkthrough.

When Form 36 lies

Form 36 is the appeal under Section 253 of the Income Tax Act 1961, before the ITAT, against:

An order of the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)] passed under Section 250 or 154 (rectification)

An order of the Principal Commissioner / Commissioner under Section 263 or 264

An order under Section 271 by the Assessing Officer (in certain cases)

An order of the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) under Section 246A (post-Faceless Appeal regime)

Eligibility is broad — both the assessee and the department can appeal. Cross-objections are filed by Form 36A.

Limitation

Section 253(3): the appeal must be filed within 60 days of the date of communication of the order under appeal. Section 253(5) allows the ITAT to condone delay on sufficient cause being shown.

Two practical points:

The 60-day period runs from communication, not from the order date. Document service date carefully.

Condonation is discretionary and increasingly tightly granted. Filing within 60 days is the safe rule.

Fees

Section 253(6) prescribes the fee structure:

Total income up to ₹1 lakh (assessed) — ₹500

₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakh — ₹1,500

Above ₹2 lakh — 1% of the assessed income, capped at ₹10,000

Stay applications — ₹500 each

The fee is paid via the Income Tax Department's e-payment system; the challan is annexed with Form 36.

For the department side, fees are not payable.

Form 36 — what to fill

Form 36 is a structured form. The key fields:

Cause-title. Appellant's name, PAN, and AY in standard format.

Order under appeal. AO's name, order date, AY, and reference number.

Grounds of appeal. This is the substantive section. Each ground states a specific contention with reference to the order under appeal. Format: "The CIT(A) erred in law and on facts in upholding the addition of ₹X under Section Y by failing to consider Z."

Statement of facts. A concise chronology — when the AO passed the assessment order, what additions were made, what the CIT(A) did, what survives in appeal.

Reliefs sought. Typically (i) deletion of additions, (ii) consequent re-computation of total income.

Verification. Signed by the assessee (or authorised representative under Section 288).

Drafting note: keep grounds atomic — one issue per ground. Conjoint grounds ("The CIT(A) erred in upholding the addition of ₹X and ₹Y...") get demerit-marked at the time of hearing because the bench likes to dispose of grounds individually.

Attachments

Standard Form 36 annexures:

Memo of appeal (Form 36 itself, in duplicate)

Order under appeal (CIT(A) order; one certified copy)

Order of the AO (assessment order; one copy)

Notice of demand under Section 156 (where applicable)

Power of attorney / authorisation in favour of the AR (if appearance is by an AR)

Fee challan (assessee side)

Index of documents

Optional but recommended:

Statement of facts (concise; 2-3 pages max)

Synopsis of grounds (legal frame; 3-5 pages)

Compilation of judgments relied on

Computation of disputed income (if quantum is in issue)

Filing — physical and e-filing

In 2026, ITAT e-filing is widely adopted:

Most ITAT benches accept e-filing through the ITAT e-filing portal

Some bench-specific requirements remain — Mumbai and Delhi benches have higher-volume e-filing usage; smaller bench cities are still partial

The e-filing flow is structured:

Login to the ITAT e-filing portal with the AR's credentials

Create a new appeal — fill the Form 36 fields, upload annexures

Pay the fee online (challan is auto-stitched into the package)

Submit; an acknowledgement number is generated

The physical filing (where required for that bench) is then scheduled

For benches that still require physical filing alongside e-filing, the printed Form 36, fee challan, and annexures are filed at the bench registry within 7 days of e-filing acknowledgement.

Post-filing procedure

Once Form 36 is filed:

Notice of hearing is issued by the bench — typically within 8-12 weeks for new appeals.

Cross-objections (Form 36A) by the respondent are due within 30 days of receipt of the notice.

Stay applications under Section 254(2A) — can be filed at any time after Form 36 to stay recovery of the disputed demand. Hearing typically within 30-60 days.

Hearing. Usually a single hearing for substantive disposal in routine matters; complex matters can stretch over multiple hearings.

Order. ITAT orders are typically pronounced 4-12 weeks after hearing.

Common drafting mistakes

Conjoint grounds. As noted — keep one issue per ground.

Stale annexures. Submitting an outdated CIT(A) order copy that doesn't include all pages. Verify before annexing.

Wrong fee. The 1% rule is on assessed income, not declared income. Check the assessment order for assessed total income before computing fee.

Missing AR authorisation. When an Authorised Representative appears, the Section 288 authorisation must be on file. Many practitioners submit late and lose hearing time.

Stay-application strategy errors. Filing stay-application together with Form 36 helps but is not always best. Sometimes deferring stay until after notice of hearing produces better outcomes — depends on the demand quantum and timing.

How CourtNetra prepares Form 36

CourtNetra's e-filing assistance includes ITAT Form 36, Form 35 (for CIT(A) appeals), and Form 36A (cross-objections). The flow:

Open the matter — assessee details, PAN, AY, ITR series are read from matter fields.

Pick "ITAT — Form 36" filing template.

The template pre-fills cause-title, order-under-appeal section, fee computation, AR authorisation reference.

Grounds and statement of facts are drafted in the editor with NyayaLens AI suggesting precedent for the legal frame.

Fee challan is computed and validated.

Package is generated as a PDF ready for ITAT e-filing portal upload (where supported).

The bottom line

Form 36 is mechanical when you've filed five and inscrutable when it's your first. The 60-day limitation, the fee structure, and the grounds-anchored drafting style are all repeatable patterns. Tax counsel teams that build a tight Form 36 workflow handle a 100-appeal portfolio with the same effort a smaller team handles 20.

For Indian tax practice in 2026, the standard approach is: structured matter records, pre-built templates, ITAT e-filing where available, and AI-assisted precedent search for the legal frame. CourtNetra implements that approach end-to-end.