If you have received an income tax notice, read the section printed at the top before you do anything else — it tells you whether the department wants a reply, a corrected filing, a payment, or is simply reporting an adjustment it has already made. Most notices are routine communications generated by the Centralised Processing Centre and can be answered through the income tax e-filing portal without any visit to an office. A smaller number are scrutiny or reopening notices, and those deserve a carefully drafted and documented reply.
Who this applies to
This guide is for salaried individuals, freelancers, small business owners and Hindu undivided families who file their own returns, and for anyone whose return is filed by an accountant but who is served the notice directly. It also applies to company officers, because a notice can be issued to the company as a separate assessee while a related TDS default intimation reaches the individual. Our tax and regulatory practice handles all of these, and the tax formats library has worked examples of the covering letters and replies.
The notices people actually get, and what each requires
| Notice | What it means | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Intimation under section 143(1) | The return was processed by computer and the figures were either accepted or adjusted. | Compare the figures with your return; if a demand is raised in error, file a rectification or an online reply. |
| Scrutiny notice under section 143(2) | A selected return is being examined in detail. | File a written reply with the supporting documents by the date given. |
| Notice under section 148, preceded by the section 148A enquiry | The department believes income escaped assessment in an earlier year. | Reply to the show cause and then to the notice; where appropriate, raise objections to the reopening itself. |
| Notice of demand under section 156 | A sum is said to be payable after processing or assessment. | Pay, or file a rectification, or appeal and seek a stay of the demand. |
| Defective return notice under section 139(9) | The return is treated as not filed until the defect is cured. | Cure the defect and re-submit within the time allowed. |
| TDS default intimation | A statement filed by the deductor shows short deduction or short payment of tax. | The deductor answers it; a deductee may separately need to correct the credit claimed. |
Step by step: viewing and responding on the portal
- Log in to the income tax e-filing portal and open the "Pending Actions" and "e-Proceedings" sections. Notices issued electronically appear there with the assessment year and the date of issue.
- Download the notice and note three things: the section quoted, the assessment year, and the last date for a response.
- Open the worklist entry for that notice and use the "open" tab. Each notice is a separate proceeding with its own acknowledgement number, and your reply must be filed inside that proceeding rather than by a plain email.
- Draft the reply as a PDF with a covering letter, an index of documents and numbered annexures. Upload it against the proceeding before the date fixed.
- If the notice raises a demand that you dispute, do not simply wait. Interest on an outstanding demand runs from the date of the demand, so either pay and recover it later, file a rectification, or appeal and apply for a stay while the appeal is pending.
The response tools available to you
- Reply to the notice — the main tool where the notice asks for information or explanation, and the correct route for scrutiny and reopening notices.
- Rectification under section 154 — where the mistake is apparent from the record, such as a TDS credit that was not allowed or an addition you can show is wrong on the face of the papers.
- Revised or updated return — where you omitted income or claimed something incorrectly and the time allowed by law is still open.
- Grievance — where the portal will not accept an action, or a credit is still not reflected after the deductor has filed. The portal issues a ticket with a reference number that you can follow up.
Documents to keep
- A copy of every notice received, with the acknowledgement number and the date of issue.
- Your filed return and computation for the year, with Form 16 or Form 16A.
- The Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement downloaded for the year.
- Bank statements and the record of every tax payment challan.
- The acknowledgement and uploaded PDF of every submission you make online.
Timelines and limitation
Each notice fixes its own response date, and the law separately fixes outer limits within which the department must finish its work — a scrutiny assessment must ordinarily be completed within the period the statute prescribes, counted from the end of the relevant assessment year, and a reopening is confined to the past years and the situations the law allows. If the date in the notice passes, the officer may proceed on the material already on record, so a late reply is always weaker than a timely one. Where the delay is genuine you can ask for it to be condoned while filing, and an appeal can also be admitted late on a condonation application. For the wider framework, see our note on income tax notice timelines.
When the next step is an appeal
If the assessment goes against you, the first appeal lies to the Commissioner of Appeals (Appeals) within the period the statute allows from the date of service of the order, and the second appeal lies to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. Before appealing, weigh the tax effect against the strength of the record; a well-drafted reply at the notice stage frequently avoids the appeal altogether. If you are unsure which route applies, contact us with the notice and we will say what the first step should be.
Common questions
Do I have to appear in person?
For most notices issued electronically, no. You reply through the e-proceedings module and upload your documents. Personal appearance is called for only where the officer specifically requires it, or in certain cases where a video hearing is scheduled.
Is a notice always bad news?
No. An intimation that accepts your return, or a routine information notice, is just a communication. Even a demand is often a processing error that a rectification removes once the TDS credit is allowed.
Can I reply myself or should an accountant do it?
You can reply yourself for a simple mismatch. For a scrutiny or reopening notice, the reply is the record the appellate authority reads later, so it is worth having it drafted properly and filed with a clear index of documents.
What if the notice is for a year for which I never filed a return?
That usually means the department holds information from a bank, a registrar or a deductor. You may still be able to file a belated or updated return if the law allows it for that year; if it does not, the reply must address the information head-on with your own evidence.
FileX Advocates & Legal Consultants, Kolkata, prepares replies to income tax and GST notices and represents assessees before the authorities and the appellate forums. Call +91 7439811422 or WhatsApp us for a free first consultation.