Reply of Income Tax Notice
The Income Tax Department can send notices under several sections of the Income Tax Act if any discrepancy is found in your Income Tax Returns (ITR). With the new stringent regime and quick turnaround time in the department, many people have been getting notices. The I-T Department could send you notices either by post or email. These notices could be for scrutiny, non-filing, delayed filing or filing of defective ITR, non-disclosure of income, tax credit mismatch in the ITR, or non-payment of Self-Assessment Tax. Let us look at each kind of notice in detail and find out how to reply to each kind.
Notice for Non-Filing of Income Tax Return
If you have filed ITR for one year and not filed in the following year, or you have performed high-value transactions and not filed an ITR, then you could get a notice from the I-T Department for non-filing of ITR. If you are a salaried individual with tax being deducted by the company, and you have failed to file the ITR, then you could get a notice from the I-T Department.
Notice for Delayed ITR Filing
If you have not filed the Income Tax Return by July 31, you will get a notice on non-filing of ITR. You could get this notice within a year of the end of the assessment year for which return has not been filed.
Notice for Non-Disclosure of Income
You can get a notice from the I-T Department for non-disclosure of income if you have not shown any income in your ITR. If TDS has been deducted and you have no income to show for it, or if the I-T Department has received information about income such as bank interest or income from shares and securities through the AIR, they will suspect you of hiding income sources and send you a notice.
- Always remember to compare your ITR with Form 26AS before filing it.
- File a revised return in case you accidentally omitted any income source which is mentioned in Form 26AS.
- If the return-filing deadline is over, then you need to send the department a fresh calculation of your income and tax dues. If any tax is due to the government then you need to pay it along with the interest and penalty applicable, and a receipt or challan of the tax paid can be attached to your reply.
Notice for Tax Credit Mismatch
If the tax credit in the ITR and Form 26AS do not match, you are likely to receive a notice for tax credit mismatch. In this case, cross-check the tax credit details in your TDS and ITR with that in Form 26AS. Revise your ITR accordingly and file a revised version or a rectification. If there is any error in Form 26AS, you need to rectify it in the form first.
Notice for Non-Payment of Self-Assessment Tax
If you have filed a return even when tax is due from you to the government, then the ITR you filed will be considered a defective return. In this case, make the tax payment as required and file a revised return.
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