An income-tax notice is a section number wearing a scary letterhead. Decode the section and you know exactly what the department wants, how long you have, and how worried to be — most notices are routine automation, a few are serious, and the difference is printed at the top. Here is the field guide to the notices businesses and individuals actually receive, and the response discipline that keeps small issues small.
The routine ones: adjustments and defects
- 143(1) intimation: the computer processed your return — either 'no change', a refund, or an adjustment (TDS mismatch, arithmetic, disallowed claim). Agree? Pay. Disagree? File rectification (154) or revised return within limits
- 139(9) defective return: something structural is wrong (missing schedules, unpaid self-assessment tax, wrong form). Fix within 15 days of the notice or the return can be treated as invalid — as if never filed
- 245 adjustment of refund: your refund is being set off against an old demand — respond within the window if the demand is wrong or already paid
These three account for most mail. They are conversations with software; precise, document-backed responses through the portal close them.
The scrutiny family
142(1) asks for information or a return you haven't filed — comply by the date given; it is often the doorway to assessment. 143(2) means your return is selected for scrutiny — limited or complete — under the faceless regime: questionnaires arrive via e-proceedings, you upload replies, and an assessment order follows. Scrutiny is survivable arithmetic: every claimed figure needs its evidence ready — books, bank statements, bills, confirmations. The taxpayers who suffer are those who claimed round numbers they cannot now support.
The serious ones: reassessment and demands
- 148/148A reassessment: the department believes income escaped assessment — new-regime procedure requires them to share information and hear you first (148A) before reopening. Timelines are tight and the stakes real; involve a professional immediately
- 156 demand notice: a quantified amount is payable following any order — pay within 30 days or contest; interest runs regardless
- 271-series/270A penalty notices: penalties ride on findings of misreporting — they are separately contestable, and often waivable (270AA) where tax and interest are paid and conditions met
Almost every notice has a printed response date, and e-proceedings deadlines are enforced by software that doesn't take calls. The day a notice arrives: diarise the date, download everything, and decide the response owner. Extensions exist — request them on the portal before the date, never after.
How to respond well
All responses now flow through the e-filing portal's e-proceedings tab. The craft: answer exactly what is asked, question by question, in the notice's own order; attach indexed evidence (bank statements, ledgers, invoices) as clean PDFs; reconcile in tables where figures differ (their number, your number, the bridge); concede and pay genuine errors quickly — voluntary correction prices far better than detected error; and keep submissions professional and factual — the file will be read by appellate authorities later if things escalate. Never respond with less than the full picture: partial answers generate second questionnaires and suspicion.
If the order goes against you
An adverse assessment is a stage, not a verdict: rectification (154) for apparent mistakes; appeal to CIT(Appeals)/JCIT(A) within 30 days (condonation is discretionary — don't need it); then ITAT. Stay of demand pending appeal typically requires 20% payment — negotiable downward in hardship cases with a stay application. Appeal deadlines and pre-deposits are where unrepresented taxpayers lose winnable cases; the professional fee is bought insurance here.
Prevention: the boring superpower
The taxpayers who rarely meet serious notices share habits: returns matched to 26AS/AIS before filing; GST and ITR turnovers reconciled; high-value transactions (property, large deposits, foreign remittances) disclosed with computation notes kept; books closed monthly so any year can be evidenced in days. Notices feed on gaps between databases — close the gaps and the algorithms lose interest in you.
How Aidwish helps
Aidwish triages client notices the day they land — decoding, deadline control, evidence assembly and portal replies with your CA, through appeals where needed — and runs the pre-filing reconciliations that keep most notices from ever being generated.