A scrutiny notice under Section 143(2) of the Income-tax Act 1961, with its questionnaire, arrives in your income-tax e-filing account under the e-proceedings tab. You read the questions, gather the proofs, upload a written submission with the annexures through the portal within the response window, and keep a copy of everything filed. The assessment itself is conducted faceless, so you deal with the assessment unit named on the notice and not with an officer seated in your own city.
Before you start
- The notice and the questionnaire, and the document identification number printed on them. Note the assessment unit and the response due date before anything else.
- The return you filed for the year under scrutiny, with the computation and the schedules that carry the figures the questionnaire asks about.
- Your books of account or the ledger that records the transactions flagged — sales, purchases, expenses, capital receipts.
- Bank statements for the year, and the electronic tax-credit statement and Form 16 or 16A where tax was deducted.
- A list of the specific transactions the questionnaire concerns, matched to the document that explains each one.
- The login and the digital signature or electronic verification code of the person authorised to file on behalf of the assessee.
Steps
- 1. Open the e-proceedings tab. The notice, the questionnaire and every later communication sit there. Read the whole questionnaire before drafting anything, because the questions are usually linked and one answer affects another.
- 2. Note the response window. The notice gives a period to respond. Work out the last date at once and start gathering the documents the same week; a file assembled on the last day is where the errors live.
- 3. Ask for more time if you need it. A written request for extension through the portal, made before the due date and giving reasons, is normally considered. Asking after the date has passed does not. The extension is a matter of discretion, so do not rely on it, but do use it where the records genuinely take time.
- 4. Prepare a question-wise written submission. Number it to match the questionnaire, answer each question in a line or two, and refer to the annexure that proves it. A submission that wanders loses the officer's attention and invites a second round.
- 5. Assemble clean annexures. Put the ledger extract, the bank statement, the invoice copies and the reconciliations behind a covering index. Upload legible PDFs; do not upload a bundle of unsorted scans.
- 6. Upload through the portal. Submit the reply against the notice, verify it with the digital signature or code of the authorised signatory, and download the acknowledgement. Keep the acknowledgement reference for every submission you make.
- 7. Deal with the show-cause and draft assessment. Where the officer is not satisfied, a show-cause notice and, in the faceless scheme, a draft assessment order follows. Reply within the time given, confining yourself to the proposed additions and the material already on record.
- 8. Keep the file intact for the next round. The final assessment order and every communication stay together, because the same papers are the foundation of any appeal.
Documents to keep
- Every notice, questionnaire, extension request and submission, with the portal acknowledgement for each.
- The question-wise written submission and its annexures, exactly as uploaded.
- The orders — the draft, any further show-cause, and the final assessment order — with the date served.
- The ledger, bank statements and reconciliations that support the figures returned.
- A running index of what was filed on which date, so nothing filed earlier has to be reconstructed later.
What goes wrong
- Ignoring the notice. A nil reply is treated as no reply, and the officer then completes the assessment on the basis of the material available to him.
- Answering orally or by a letter outside the portal. Nothing outside the e-proceedings record is treated as part of the assessment file.
- Uploading documents without a covering index or a written explanation, so the officer cannot connect the paper to the question.
- Missing the response date and then asking for time, when the extension had to be sought before the date.
- Failing to reconcile the tax-credit statement with the return, which is the single most common question in a scrutiny.
- Filing the reply under the wrong permanent account number or against the wrong year, so the assessment unit never sees it.
Common questions
Where will I see the scrutiny notice?
In the e-proceedings section of your income-tax e-filing account, and by email on the address registered with the department. If a representative acts for you, the communication still flows through the portal record, so check it regularly during the assessment year.
Can I get more time to reply?
Yes, if you ask before the date given. A written extension request through the portal, stating the records you are still gathering and the time you need, is normally considered. The grant is within the officer's discretion, so the request should be made early.
What happens if I do not respond at all?
The officer completes the assessment on the material before him. That usually means additions to your returned income and a demand, raised without the explanation and the proofs you could have filed. The order can still be appealed, but the paper that would have settled the question at the assessment stage is then harder to get in.
Will I be heard in person?
Under the faceless scheme the process runs on written submissions and electronic communication. A personal hearing may be allowed where the officer considers it necessary or where you ask for it, but the norm is a written record, which is why every submission should read as if it is the only chance to explain.
The assessment stage is one link in a longer chain, and the wider services we provide carry the matter through to appeal where an order has to be challenged.
FileX Advocates & Legal Consultants, Kolkata, handles scrutiny and faceless assessment correspondence, drafts the submissions and keeps the record of every filing for you. Call +91 7439811422 or WhatsApp us for a first consultation. More on our GST and tax law services and the tax and regulatory formats library.