What to do if you get an income-tax notice: 143(1) intimation, defective return, high-value transactions and scrutiny
Short answer. Most income-tax "notices" are automated messages about a mismatch, not accusations. Do four things in order: confirm the notice is genuine on the e-filing portal, read which section it quotes, note the deadline, and reply online within it. The short deadlines are 15 days for a defective return and 30 days for a proposed adjustment or a demand. Never ignore one; silence is treated as agreement.
What should I do first if I get an income tax notice?
Check that it is real, then find the section number and the due date. Everything else follows from those three facts.
- Authenticate it. Every genuine communication carries a Document Identification Number (DIN). On incometax.gov.in use "Authenticate Notice/Order Issued by ITD", or DIN Authentication inside the Compliance Portal. The same notice will also sit in your account under Pending Actions. If it is not on the portal, treat the email or SMS as suspect and do not click its links.
- Read the section and the year. The heading names the section, the assessment year or tax year, and what is being asked.
- Note the deadline. The response window runs from the date of the notice, not the day you noticed the email.
- Reply on the portal. Responses go through Pending Actions: e-Proceedings for most notices, Response to Outstanding Demand for demands, and the Compliance Portal for e-campaign messages. Attach documents, submit, and save the acknowledgement.
Which notice did I get? Old and new section numbers
The Income-tax Act, 2025 applies to income earned from 1 April 2026 and renumbers every provision. Returns for FY 2025-26 and earlier years are still processed under the 1961 Act, so the notices you receive in 2026 and much of 2027 quote the old numbers. The new numbers will appear on notices for tax year 2026-27 onwards.
| Notice | Section: 1961 Act → 2025 Act | What it means | Time to respond |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intimation after processing | s.143(1) → s.270(1) | The processing centre's summary of your return: no change, refund or demand | None if you agree. It cannot be sent later than 9 months after the end of the financial year of filing |
| Proposed adjustment | s.143(1)(a) → s.270(1)(a), 270(2) | The centre intends to change a figure: an arithmetical error, an incorrect claim, a loss or deduction in a late return, an item from an audit report | 30 days |
| Defective return | s.139(9) → s.263(7) | The return is incomplete or inconsistent | 15 days |
| E-campaign message: high-value or significant transactions, non-filing | None | Information reported about you does not match your return. Not a statutory notice | Promptly; by the date in the message if one is given |
| Inquiry before assessment | s.142(1) → s.268(1) | File a return, or produce accounts and documents | Date in the notice |
| Scrutiny notice | s.143(2) → s.270(8) | The return is picked for a detailed, faceless assessment. It must be served within 3 months of the end of the financial year of filing | Date in the notice |
| Refund adjustment | s.245 → s.438 | A refund is about to be set off against an older demand | The period in the intimation, normally 30 days [VERIFY: current response window for refund-adjustment intimations] |
| Notice of demand | s.156 → s.289 | Tax, interest or penalty is payable | Pay within 30 days |
| Reassessment: show-cause, then notice | s.148A, s.148 → s.281, s.280 | The department holds information suggesting income escaped assessment | Date in the notice |
| Call for information | s.133(6) → s.252 | Details are wanted about you or about someone you dealt with | Date in the notice |
What does a 143(1) intimation mean?
It is the result of the automated processing of your return, not a notice of wrongdoing. The Centralised Processing Centre compares your figures with its own computation and with TDS and tax payments on record, and tells you one of three things: the figures match, a refund is due, or a demand is payable.
- How to open it. The PDF arrives by email and sits under your filed returns on the portal. The password is your PAN in lower case followed by your date of birth as DDMMYYYY.
- How to read it. Two columns run side by side: "as provided by taxpayer" and "as computed". Go down the rows until a figure differs. The usual causes are TDS claimed but missing from the tax statement, a deduction the system rejected, or interest for late payment of advance tax.
- If you agree with a demand, pay it within 30 days of the intimation. After that, interest runs at 1% a month (Section 411, formerly s.220).
- If you disagree, file a rectification request online (Section 287, formerly s.154) when the mistake is the department's, or a revised return when it is yours.
Where the centre wants to change something in your return it must tell you first and give you 30 days to reply. If you do not respond, the change is made.
What is a defective return, and how do I respond to a defective return notice?
A defective return is one the department cannot process because something is missing or inconsistent. You get 15 days from the notice to fix it; if you do not, the return is treated as invalid, as if it had never been filed. Common triggers are the wrong ITR form, income in the tax statement with no matching income in the return, TDS claimed without the related income, a missing balance sheet where books are required, and tax shown as payable but unpaid.
To respond, log in and open Pending Actions, then e-Proceedings, and pick the defective-return notice. Choose "Agree" and upload a corrected return in the right form, or "Disagree" with a short explanation if the defect does not exist. If 15 days is too short, apply for more time before the period ends; the officer may allow it. Picking the right form at the outset avoids most of these; see which ITR form to file.
What does an income tax notice for high value transactions imply?
It means a bank, registrar, fund house or broker reported a large transaction against your PAN and the department cannot see matching income in your return, or cannot find a return at all. It is sent by email and SMS as an "e-campaign". It is a request to check, not an assessment. Reporting entities file a Statement of Financial Transactions every year (Section 508 and Rule 237; formerly s.285BA and Rule 114E). The main thresholds are:
| Transaction in a financial year | Reported when it reaches |
|---|---|
| Cash deposits in savings accounts | ₹10 lakh |
| Cash deposits or withdrawals in a current account | ₹50 lakh |
| Fixed deposits with one bank | ₹10 lakh |
| Credit-card bill payments: in cash | ₹1 lakh |
| Credit-card bill payments: by any other mode | ₹10 lakh |
| Purchase of mutual fund units, shares, bonds or debentures | ₹10 lakh |
| Purchase or sale of immovable property | ₹30 lakh |
| Purchase of foreign currency, including forex cards | ₹10 lakh |
How to respond. Go to Pending Actions, then Compliance Portal, then e-Campaign. For each item choose one of the feedback options: information is correct, information is not fully correct, income is not taxable, information relates to another PAN or year, information is duplicate or included elsewhere, or information is denied. If the item is correct and was left out of your return, the feedback alone is not enough: file a revised return and pay the tax. A large transaction is not income by itself. A ₹40 lakh flat bought with a loan and savings needs an explanation of the source, not tax.
What is an AIS mismatch, and are the mismatch emails genuine?
An AIS mismatch is a difference between your return and your Annual Information Statement: interest you left out, a share sale you did not report, or salary from a second employer. The emails are genuine if the same message appears in your portal account. Reconcile before you file and most of them never arise; our guide to AIS, TIS and Form 26AS shows how.
What does an unreported ₹60,000 cost?
Assume your AIS shows FD interest of ₹1,80,000, your return declared ₹1,20,000, and you are in the 30% slab.
| Route | Working | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tax on the missed income | ₹60,000 × 31.2% | ₹18,720 |
| You correct it in a revised return nine months later: interest of about 1% a month | ₹18,720 × 1% × 9 | about ₹1,685 |
| The department finds it: penalty for under-reporting | 50% × ₹18,720 | ₹9,360 |
| The department treats it as misreporting | 200% × ₹18,720 | ₹37,440 |
The tax is the same on every route. What changes is the add-on: a small interest charge if you fix it yourself, or a penalty of 50% to 200% of the tax under Section 439 (formerly s.270A) if it is found in assessment. A revised return can now be filed up to 31 March after the year, with a fee of ₹1,000 or ₹5,000 for the last three months. After that an updated return is possible for 48 months, with additional tax.
What are notices under sections 142(1), 143(2) and 148?
These belong to assessment, where an officer examines the return rather than a computer.
- Section 142(1) (now s.268(1)) asks you to file a return you have not filed, or to produce documents. Ignoring it allows a best-judgment assessment (Section 271, formerly s.144) and a penalty.
- Section 143(2) (now s.270(8)) opens scrutiny. Assessments are faceless (Section 273, formerly s.144B): questions arrive online and replies are uploaded. Answer what is asked, with documents, and ask for an adjournment early if you need one.
- Sections 148A and 148 (now s.281 and s.280) reopen a past year. The officer must first show you the information and hear you. Under the 2025 Act a reassessment notice cannot be issued more than four years and three months after the end of the tax year, or six years and three months where the escaped income is ₹50 lakh or more (Section 282).
These proceedings have legal consequences and strict dates. Most taxpayers take professional help here.
My refund was adjusted against an old demand. What can I do?
The department may set a refund off against an outstanding demand only after telling you in writing (Section 438, formerly s.245). Open Pending Actions, then Response to Outstanding Demand. If the old demand is wrong — TDS not credited, tax already paid, a duplicate entry — choose "Disagree with demand", give the reason and attach the challan or the TDS certificate. If you stay silent, the adjustment goes through.
How do I avoid an income tax notice?
Reconcile AIS before filing, report every bank account and all interest, use the right form, claim only deductions you can document, pay advance tax on time and e-verify within 30 days. Our list of return mistakes that trigger notices covers each of these.
FAQ
What is a 143(1) intimation in income tax?
How do I open the 143(1) intimation PDF?
How much time do I get to respond to a defective return notice?
Is a high-value transaction message an income-tax notice?
How do I check whether an income-tax notice is genuine?
Will notices now quote new section numbers?
Sources: Income-tax Act, 2025: text of s.270, s.263, s.282, s.287, s.411, s.438 and s.439; TaxGuru: assessment procedure under the 2025 Act; Income Tax Department: Compliance Portal user manual; ClearTax: responding to an e-campaign; SFT thresholds under Rule 237; Business Today: revised-return window and fee. All checked 19 Sep 2026.
Education only, not tax advice for your situation. Deadlines in your own notice override the general periods given here. Spotted an error? Write to us.
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