The income tax notices you might receive, and what each one actually wants

A communication from the Income Tax Department is alarming out of proportion to what it usually contains. The large majority are system-generated, arise from a mismatch between two databases, and are resolved by explaining the difference.

What matters is identifying which section you are dealing with, because the deadlines and consequences vary enormously.

Section 143(1) — intimation

Not strictly a notice. After processing, the department sends a computation alongside your own. Three outcomes: it agrees, it shows a refund, or it shows a demand.

Most 143(1) demands come from arithmetic the department applied differently — a deduction disallowed because the schedule was left blank, TDS claimed that does not appear in Form 26AS, or interest under 234B and 234C that you had not computed.

Deadline: 30 days to respond on the portal, agreeing or disagreeing with reasons. Ignoring it makes the demand final and recoverable, including by adjustment against a future refund.

Section 139(9) — defective return

Your return was filed but is incomplete: a schedule not filled, income declared without the corresponding schedule, books not reported where required, or a mismatch between the ITR form and the nature of your income.

Deadline: 15 days, extendable on request. If you do not respond, the return is treated as never filed — which means late filing fees, loss of carry-forward of losses, and interest.

Section 143(2) — scrutiny

This one is a genuine examination. The return has been selected for scrutiny, either by risk-based selection or because something specific was flagged. The notice specifies whether the scrutiny is limited to particular issues or complete.

Scrutiny is conducted faceless, through the portal. Everything is in writing and everything you upload becomes part of the record.

Deadline: stated in the notice, usually 15 days for the first response. This is the point at which professional representation stops being optional for most people — not because the process is adversarial, but because the way an answer is framed determines what is asked next.

Section 142(1) — enquiry before assessment

A request for information or documents, or a direction to file a return you have not filed. It can precede scrutiny or stand alone.

Deadline: as stated. Non-compliance carries a penalty of ₹10,000 and can lead to a best-judgement assessment under section 144, where the officer estimates your income without your input.

Section 148 — income escaping assessment

The serious one. The department believes income has escaped assessment and is reopening a past year. Since the 2021 amendments it must be preceded by a notice under 148A, giving you an opportunity to explain before the reopening is confirmed.

The time limits are three years normally, and up to ten where escaped income is alleged to be ₹50 lakh or more.

What to do: respond to the 148A notice properly. That stage is where a reopening is most often prevented, and it is far cheaper than contesting an assessment afterwards.

Section 245 — adjustment of refund

An intimation that your refund is being adjusted against an earlier demand. Often the earlier demand is itself disputed or already paid, and the department's records simply have not caught up.

Deadline: 30 days to object. If you do not, the adjustment proceeds. This one is worth checking carefully — old demands from assessment years long closed surface here regularly.

The mismatch behind most of them

The Annual Information Statement now carries far more than it used to: salary, interest, dividends, mutual fund transactions, property transactions, foreign remittances, credit card spending above thresholds. Anything in the AIS that does not appear in your return is a candidate for an automated query.

The AIS is not always right. Transactions get double-counted, joint accounts are reported in full against each holder, and gross proceeds appear where only the gain is taxable. Feedback can be submitted against each entry. Reviewing the AIS before filing prevents a large share of notices entirely.

Practical rules

• Check the DIN. Every genuine communication carries a Document Identification Number, verifiable on the portal. Anything without one is not a valid notice.
• Reply through the portal. Email and post leave no record in the system that matters.
• Diarise the deadline immediately. Extensions have to be requested before expiry, not after.
• Answer what was asked. Volunteering unrelated information widens the enquiry.
• Keep the whole trail. Acknowledgements for every submission, saved as PDFs.

Routine notices — 143(1), 139(9), 245 — can usually be handled yourself with the documents in hand. Anything under 143(2), 148 or 148A deserves a professional reading of the file before the first reply goes in.