Types of Income Tax Notices Issued by the Tax Department: Know How to Deal

Getting a notice from the Income Tax department is not always serious, but sometimes it is just a normal part of the tax process. Through the notices, the tax department often asks for more information or clarification for something in your income tax return (ITR). Common reasons for getting such a notice include mistakes like reporting the wrong income, missing tax-saving investments, or incorrect claims of tax benefits. Let us know about the types of notices and how to respond to them.

Notice Under Section 133(6)

The notice under section 133(6) is issued to seek clarification or documentation from you in the following situations:

• Your income is wrongly declared in the ITR
• You have not filed an income tax return even though your income exceeded the basic exemption limit.
• Your expenses do not match the income you have declared.

Intimation Under Section 142(1)

This notice is issued when the income tax officer requires some extra information or documents to substantiate the claims you have made in your income tax return (ITR). This can also be issued to ask you to file your ITR if you have not filed it.

Intimation Under Section 143(1)

The intimation under section 143(1) is not a detailed scrutiny assessment but a communication from the income tax department, which summarises the results of the processing of your ITR by the CPC. It clarifies whether the department’s calculation matched the income calculation in your ITR.

Notice of Section 143(2)

The Income Tax Department may issue a notice under Section 143(2) if there is a mismatch in the information in your ITR, or if the response to Section 143(1) is not satisfactory, or if you failed to reply to it. The income tax department can question about the deductions, exemptions, and other information for a detailed investigation.

Notice of Section 148

The Income Tax Officer issues a notice under section 148 of the Income Tax Act if you have failed to report a part of your income or if you have provided incorrect information. In other words, this notice is issued when any of your income has escaped the assessment for any assessment year.

Intimation of Section 245

The Income Tax Department issues this intimation under Section 245 to adjust an outstanding tax demand from previous years against a refund due for the current year.

Notice Under Section 139(9)

If your return has any errors, omissions, or incorrect information, it is known as a defective return. The department sends you a notice under section 139(9) to give you an opportunity to correct the mistake.

What to Do on Receiving Notice?

If you receive an income tax notice, here is what you should do:

• Understand the reason for the notice by reading it carefully.
• Verify if the notice is genuine by visiting the official Income Tax e-filing portal
• Collect all relevant documents like Form 16, bank statements, proof of investments, and any other supporting papers related to your income and deductions.
• Write a clear response mentioning the specific points raised in the notice and attach all required documents as evidence to support your reply.
• Submit your response online through the portal under the notice section. After submission, save the receipt or acknowledgement for your records.
• Keep monitoring your portal account and email for any further actions from the tax department.