About IT Notice Reply
Reply to Section 143(1) intimation 143(2) scrutiny 148 reassessment 245 adjustment notices. Forms handled: Section 143, Section 148, Section 245, Section 154. Legal basis: Sections 143/147/148/154/245 of Income Tax Act.
Plain-English glossary for this service
Reassessment notice under Section 148 is the notice requiring the assessee to furnish a return of income for an assessment year where income has escaped assessment. The notice follows the Section 148A(d) order. Limitation under Section 149 — three years ordinary, ten years where escapement of fifty lakh rupees or more is alleged.
Section 115BBE special tax rate is the sixty per cent rate (plus twenty-five per cent surcharge and four per cent cess) applicable to income referred to in Sections 68 to 69D. Sub-section (2) bars set-off of any loss or deduction against such income. The provision targets unexplained credits, investments and expenditure.
Notice of demand under Section 156 is the notice specifying the sum payable consequent to an order — tax, interest, penalty or fine. It is the operative document for recovery and triggers the Section 220(1) thirty-day payment window beyond which Section 220(2) interest accrues.
Standard Operating Procedure for assessment is the operational guideline issued by CBDT for conduct of scrutiny — defining timelines for issue of questionnaire, evidence-collection windows, restrictions on remand of issues, requirements for draft order in significant-addition cases. The SOP supplements the statutory framework with administrative discipline.
Section 271AAB penalty is the penalty applicable in search cases under Section 132 — thirty per cent of undisclosed income where the assessee admits in the Section 132(4) statement, files return declaring such income, and pays tax and interest before specified date; sixty per cent in other cases. Distinct from Section 270A penalty regime.
Centralised Processing Centre at Bengaluru is the operational arm under the Directorate of Income Tax (Systems) that processes returns, issues Section 143(1) intimations, processes rectifications, and manages refunds. The 'CPC' tag in any notice indicates centralised, not jurisdictional, origin.
GKN Driveshafts ruling is the Supreme Court decision in GKN Driveshafts (India) Ltd v ITO that prescribed the objection mechanism in reassessment — on receipt of Section 148 notice the assessee may file return and seek reasons recorded; on receipt of reasons the assessee may file objections; the AO must dispose of objections by a speaking order before proceeding.
Annual Information Statement is the comprehensive statement introduced in 2021 displaying information received by the Department from various reporting sources — banks, mutual funds, registrars, employers — covering interest, dividends, sale of securities, sale of property, foreign remittances. Forms the trigger dataset for many Section 142(1) and Section 148A(b) notices.
Intimation under Section 143(1) is the system-generated communication processed at the Centralised Processing Centre Bengaluru that either accepts the return as filed, determines a refund, or proposes adjustments listed in clauses (i) to (vi) of the sub-section. A thirty-day response window applies before any proposed adjustment is given effect.
Section 144B sets out the faceless assessment scheme operationalised through the National Faceless Assessment Centre, Assessment Units, Verification Units, Review Units and Technical Units. Assessments and most rectifications under faceless orders are routed through the NFAC and not the jurisdictional assessing officer; any 154 application against a faceless order must therefore be addressed to NFAC, not CPC.
Specified financial transaction is the reporting category notified under Section 285BA — high-value transactions reportable by banks, registrars, mutual fund houses and others. Includes cash deposits above ten lakh rupees in savings accounts, fifty lakh rupees in current accounts, credit card payments above one lakh rupees in cash and others.
DIN is the unique fifteen-character alphanumeric reference number that every income-tax communication, notice, order, summons or letter must carry under CBDT Circular 19/2019. A communication without a DIN, or with an invalid DIN that does not resolve on the portal verification utility, is treated as non-est in law per the Supreme Court ruling in CIT v. Pradeep Goyal.
Operative provisions cited on this page
Every claim on this page can be traced back to a section or rule below.
Sub-section (1) of Section 142 of the Income-tax Act 1961 empowers the Assessing Officer to call for a return where none has been furnished, to require production of accounts and documents, and to call for any information on points or matters considered necessary for assessment. It is to be noted that the proviso to clause (ii) bars the officer from calling for accounts relating to a period more than three years prior to the previous year without prior approval of the Joint Commissioner. Non-compliance attracts penalty under Section 271(1)(b) of ten thousand rupees per default and prosecution under Section 276D.
View sourceSub-section (2A) of Section 142 empowers the Assessing Officer, having regard to the nature and complexity of the accounts, volume of accounts, doubts about correctness, multiplicity of transactions or specialised nature of business activity, to direct the assessee to get the accounts audited by an accountant nominated by the Principal Chief Commissioner. The direction requires prior approval of the Principal Commissioner. Sub-section (2C) prescribes one hundred and eighty days as the outer limit for furnishing the audit report. It is to be noted that the period spent on special audit stands excluded from the limitation under Explanation 1(iii) to Section 153.
View sourceSub-section (1) of Section 143 prescribes the summary processing of a return furnished under Section 139 or in response to a notice under Section 142(1). The system computes the total income or loss after making adjustments enumerated in clauses (i) to (vi) — arithmetical errors, incorrect claims apparent from the return information, disallowance of loss claimed where the return is belated, disallowance of expenditure indicated in the audit report but not taken into account, disallowance of deduction claimed under Section 10AA or any provision of Chapter VI-A heading 'C' where the return is furnished beyond the due date, and addition of income appearing in Form 26AS or Form 16 not included in the return. The proviso requires an intimation of any proposed adjustment to be communicated and a response window of thirty days afforded before the adjustment is given effect.
View sourceSub-section (2) of Section 143 enables the Assessing Officer or the prescribed income-tax authority, where a return has been furnished under Section 139 or in response to a notice under Section 142(1), to serve on the assessee a notice requiring him to attend the office or produce evidence in support of the return. The proviso prescribes an outer limit of three months from the end of the financial year in which the return is furnished, beyond which no Section 143(2) notice may be issued. Selection for scrutiny follows the Central Action Plan and the Computer Assisted Scrutiny Selection criteria notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes for the relevant assessment year.
View sourceSub-section (3) of Section 143 requires the Assessing Officer, after considering such evidence as the assessee may produce on points specified by the officer, and after taking into account all relevant material gathered, to pass an order in writing assessing the total income or loss and determining the sum payable by the assessee or refundable to him. The order disposing of the scrutiny commenced by the Section 143(2) notice culminates in this provision. It is to be noted that the limitation for passing such order is governed by Section 153(1) — twelve months from the end of the assessment year in which the income was first assessable, abbreviated where the case is referred to the Transfer Pricing Officer or for special audit.
View sourceSection 144 empowers the Assessing Officer to make a best-judgment assessment where the assessee fails to make a return required under Section 139(1) or fails to comply with all the terms of a notice issued under Section 142(1) or fails to comply with a direction issued under Section 142(2A), or having furnished a return fails to comply with the terms of a notice issued under Section 143(2). The officer is required to make the assessment to the best of his judgment after taking into account all relevant material gathered. The proviso mandates an opportunity of hearing to be afforded before the assessment is made, save where the show-cause notice itself has gone unanswered.
View sourceSection 147 as substituted with effect from 1 April 2021 provides that if any income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment for any assessment year, the Assessing Officer may, subject to the provisions of Sections 148 to 153, assess or reassess such income or recompute the loss or depreciation allowance. The Explanation makes it clear that the power extends to any other income chargeable to tax which has escaped assessment and comes to the notice of the officer subsequently in the course of the proceedings under this section. The pre-substitution requirement of recording reasons to believe escapement has been replaced with the Section 148A inquiry framework.
View sourceSection 148 as substituted prescribes that before making the assessment or reassessment under Section 147, the Assessing Officer shall serve on the assessee a notice requiring him to furnish a return of income within the period specified in the notice, not being less than three months. The proviso requires that no notice under this section shall be issued unless there is information with the officer which suggests that income chargeable to tax has escaped assessment, and the officer has obtained prior approval of the specified authority. The order under Section 148A(d) must precede issue of the Section 148 notice.
View sourceForms used in this engagement
System-generated intimation processed by CPC Bengaluru that communicates either acceptance of the return as filed, refund determined, or proposed adjustments under clauses (i) to (vi) of Section 143(1)(a) requiring response within thirty days
Notice issued by Assessing Officer or prescribed authority requiring the assessee to attend the office or produce evidence in support of the return; selection follows CASS criteria notified by CBDT for the assessment year
Notice calling for return where none has been furnished, production of accounts and documents, or any information on points considered necessary for assessment; non-compliance attracts Section 271(1)(b) penalty
Show-cause notice provided to assessee under Section 148A(b) along with the information suggesting escapement of income, seeking the assessee's reply before the officer passes the Section 148A(d) order
Speaking order recording satisfaction that it is or is not a fit case to issue a Section 148 notice; precedes the Section 148 reassessment notice and is the document on which validity of subsequent proceedings rests
Notice requiring the assessee to furnish a return of income for the relevant assessment year within the period specified in the notice, where the Assessing Officer has reason to believe income has escaped assessment
Communication of proposed amendment to an order or intimation where mistake apparent from record is noticed; the assessee is required to be heard before any amendment which has the effect of enhancing assessment or reducing refund is made
Intimation proposing adjustment of refund determined as due against outstanding demand, mandated by the Hon'ble Delhi High Court ruling in Court On Its Own Motion v UoI; requires speaking order before adjustment
Notice specifying the sum payable in consequence of any order under the Act — tax, interest, penalty, fine; the operative document for recovery; payable within thirty days under Section 220(1)
Electronic form for filing first appeal under Section 246A against assessment, reassessment, rectification or penalty orders; carries grounds of appeal, statement of facts, and proof of fee payment
Memorandum of appeal to ITAT under Section 253 against orders of Commissioner (Appeals), Commissioner under Section 263 or 264, or penalty orders by Principal Commissioner; filed in triplicate with certified order copy
Application seeking immunity from imposition of penalty under Section 270A and prosecution under Section 276C and Section 276CC, conditional on payment of tax and interest as per order and non-filing of appeal
Compliance deadlines that matter
Miss any of these and the next consequence kicks in automatically.
Section 148 Old Regime (pre 01-Apr-2021) vs Section 148A New Regime (post 01-Apr-2021)
Three named tax practitioners — not a faceless outsourcer
B.Com, CA Inter, GST Practitioner. 15+ years and 500+ Chennai engagements. Leads the notice-reply and CMA project-report practice.
B.Com. 15+ years in statutory and ROC compliance, partnership-firm matters, and audit-support engagements.
B.Com, M.Com. 5+ years on monthly GST returns, GSTR-2B reconciliation, and ASMT-10 first-touch responses.