Income Tax Notices and Assessments
From a processing intimation to a faceless scrutiny or a reassessment notice — read properly, answered on evidence, and filed inside the window.
Most income tax notices are not accusations. The department now cross-checks every return against the data it already holds from banks, employers, registrars and stock exchanges, and a mismatch generates a communication automatically. What determines how it ends is almost never the strength of your case at the start — it is whether the reply went in on time, and whether it was supported by documents rather than explanation.
The framework was re-codified on 1 April 2026. Processing of a return and scrutiny both sit under Section 270 of the Income Tax Act 2025, the successor to the old Section 143. An intimation on a processed return cannot be issued after 9 months from the end of the financial year in which the return is filed, and a scrutiny notice must be served within 3 months from the end of the financial year in which the return is filed. Where income is alleged to have escaped assessment, the notice comes under Section 280, replacing the notice everyone knew as Section 148.
Assessment is now faceless by default under Section 273 — conducted electronically through the National Faceless Assessment Centre, with no officer to visit and no relationship to rely on. That cuts both ways. It removes discretion, and it means a reply that is not complete and self-explanatory on the page has nothing else supporting it. Ignore the process entirely and the officer proceeds to a best judgment assessment under Section 271, on their figures rather than yours.
Enquire about Notices & Assessments
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If any of these describe where you are right now, this is the service you are looking for.
You have received an intimation and the tax computed does not match the return you filed.
A scrutiny notice has been issued and you have a faceless assessment to respond to.
A notice has arrived alleging income escaped assessment for an earlier year.
Your return was treated as defective and you have been asked to correct it.
A demand is showing on the portal for a year you thought was closed, or a refund has been adjusted against it.
An assessment order has gone against you and you are deciding whether to appeal.
Everything handled, end to end
The full scope of the engagement, so there is nothing to discover halfway through.
Notice reading and deadline fixing
What has been issued, under which provision, for which tax year, and exactly how many days remain. You get that in writing before anything else happens.
Validity and limitation check
Whether the notice is in time — a scrutiny notice served outside 3 months from the end of the financial year in which the return is filed, or an intimation after 9 months from the end of the financial year in which the return is filed, is contestable on that ground alone.
Reconciliation against the department's data
Your return matched line by line against Form 26AS, the Annual Information Statement and the bank data the notice relies on, so the reply addresses the actual mismatch.
Faceless assessment response (Section 273)
Submissions drafted and uploaded through the e-proceedings facility, with documents indexed so the assessing unit can follow the evidence without asking again.
Defective return correction
Returns flagged under Section 263(9) corrected and refiled inside the window, before the return is treated as never having been filed.
Reassessment representation (Section 280)
Response to income-escaping notices, including whether the information relied on actually supports reopening that year.
Demand and rectification handling
Arithmetical and credit errors taken up by rectification rather than appeal, which is faster and cheaper where that is genuinely the problem.
First appeal
Where an order is wrong and worth contesting, grounds drafted and the appeal filed within 30 days from the date the order is served.
What you'll need to hand over
Collected once, at the start. We tell you which of these apply to your case before you gather anything.
Send these first — before anything else
- 01The notice or order itself, with every annexure, as received
- 02The date it was served, and the response deadline stated on it
- 03The tax year it relates to
- 04Your e-filing portal login, or the ability to view the e-proceedings tab
- 05Any earlier correspondence on the same matter
For the reply
- 01The return filed for the year, with its computation and acknowledgement
- 02Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement for that year
- 03Bank statements for every account, for the full year in question
- 04Books of account, financial statements and the audit report where one applies
- 05Documentary proof for whatever the notice questions — invoices, agreements, deeds, confirmations
- 06Challans for tax already paid for that year
Where the notice concerns a specific transaction
- 01Sale and purchase deeds for property, with proof of payment routing
- 02Broker statements and contract notes for shares and mutual funds
- 03Loan agreements and lender confirmations for amounts treated as unexplained
- 04Gift deeds, and the donor's identity and capacity evidence, for amounts received
- 05Source-of-funds trail for any large cash deposit
For an appeal
- 01The assessment or penalty order being appealed
- 02The complete submission and annexures filed during assessment
- 03Record of the hearing, where one took place
- 04Proof of tax paid on the returned income
- 05Board resolution or authorisation for the signatory, for companies and LLPs
Send the notice the day you receive it, even if you can gather nothing else yet. Response windows run from the date of service, not from when you opened the portal, and the most common way a good case becomes a bad one is a window that closed while documents were being collected.
5 steps, start to finish
Where the work actually goes, and what we need from you at each stage.
Read it and fix the deadline
We identify what has been issued, under which provision, for which tax year, and how long you actually have. Nothing else is decided before this is clear.
Confirm with us
Test validity, then merits
Whether the notice is within its limitation window, and separately whether the underlying point survives reconciliation. Sometimes the answer is that the department is right, and we will say so.
With the review
Agree the position
Contest, part-concede or correct and pay. We set out the options and the likely cost of each, and you decide before anything is filed in your name.
Before drafting
Draft, upload and follow through
The submission is drafted with its evidence indexed, uploaded through e-proceedings inside the window, and any further query answered until the proceeding closes.
Within the response window
Appeal if the order is wrong
Where the order does not hold, grounds drafted and the first appeal filed within 30 days from the date the order is served, then the appeal carried through the faceless process.
30 days from the date the order is served
What to expect, and what it costs
Timelines are indicative and depend on departmental processing and how quickly documents come back to us. Message us on WhatsApp for a written quote.
Enquire on WhatsApp- Outer limit for an intimation on a processed return
- 9 months from the end of the financial year in which the return is filed
- Time limit to serve a scrutiny notice
- 3 months from the end of the financial year in which the return is filed
- Filing a first appeal against an order
- 30 days from the date the order is served
- Indicative disposal of a first appeal
- within one year from the end of the financial year in which the appeal is filed, where possible
- Correcting a defective return
- As stated on the notice
Professional fees
On request
Common questions
The questions we are actually asked about Notices & Assessments. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Yes. The Income Tax Act 2025 renumbered everything from 1 April 2026. What used to be Section 143 is now Section 270, best judgment assessment is Section 271, and the reassessment notice formerly under Section 148 is now Section 280. The provisions largely do the same work; the citations moved. Send us the notice and we will tell you what stage you are at.
An intimation is the result of your return being processed. If it agrees with your computation, nothing is needed. If it shows extra tax, something did not match — often a TDS credit, an arithmetical adjustment or a deduction disallowed as apparent from the return. It has a response window, so it should not be left.
Assessment is conducted electronically under Section 273 through the National Faceless Assessment Centre, with no assigned local officer. Everything happens through e-proceedings. A video hearing can be requested in the prescribed circumstances, but the written submission carries the case — it must be complete and self-explanatory on its own.
A scrutiny notice must be served within 3 months from the end of the financial year in which the return is filed under Section 270. Reassessment for income alleged to have escaped assessment runs on a different and longer footing under Section 280, and depends on the information relied on. A notice outside its window is challengeable on that basis alone.
The proceeding continues without your side of it. The officer can complete a best judgment assessment under Section 271 on the material available, which means their figures rather than yours, and a demand follows. Ignoring a notice removes your options; it does not remove the liability.
Sometimes paying is right, and we will say so. Where the department has it correct, paying early stops interest and closes the matter. Where it is an arithmetical or credit error, rectification is faster and cheaper than an appeal. Contesting is for orders that are actually wrong, not for demands that are merely unwelcome.
A first appeal is filed within 30 days from the date the order is served, electronically, with tax on the returned income paid. Appeals are heard faceless through the National Faceless Appeal Centre. The Act directs that appeals be decided within one year from the end of the financial year in which the appeal is filed, where possible — that is a direction to the authority, not a timeline you can hold anyone to.
Yes, and it is common. We work from the return, the portal record and your bank data rather than from whatever files were handed over. Where the earlier position is indefensible we will tell you plainly, because the reply is filed in your name and has to be one you can stand behind.
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