Income tax notices in India are delivered to your e-filing account and are also emailed, so the reliable way to check one is to log in to the income tax e-filing portal with your PAN and open the Pending Actions and e-Proceedings sections, where every notice, intimation and demand is listed with its section, its deadline and the place to respond.
Where notices appear in the e-filing portal
Everything the department formally issues to you is posted to your account on the e-filing portal. After logging in with your PAN and password, look in the dashboard under Pending Actions, which lists e-Proceedings that await your response, and under the e-Proceedings tab, which carries the full history of notices, orders and intimations. A processed return produces an intimation that appears there too, and a demand raised by the central processing centre shows up in the compliance section, where you can also see the outstanding amount.
The Annual Information Statement and the tax information summary on the same portal are what the department uses to cross-check your return, so a notice about a mismatch is best read together with them. If a bank deposit, a dividend, a sale of securities or a foreign remittance appears in the statement but not in your return, that difference is often the whole reason the notice was issued, and reconciling it early is far easier than explaining it after an order is passed.
Notices are also sent by email to the address registered with the department, and sometimes a physical notice arrives by post from the jurisdictional assessing officer. The portal version is the one to act on, because it carries the document identification number and the link through which a response is filed.
What the different notices mean
| Notice or intimation | What it is about | Usual first step |
|---|---|---|
| Intimation under Section 143(1) | After your return is processed: a refund or a demand, often after a mismatch | Check it against the return, the Annual Information Statement and Form 26AS |
| Notice under Section 139(9) | The return is treated as defective, for example a missing schedule | Correct the defect and file a revised return within the time stated |
| Notice under Section 142(1) | The officer wants accounts, documents or information | Compile exactly what is asked and reply in the e-proceeding |
| Notice under Section 143(2) | The return has been selected for scrutiny | Read the questionnaire carefully and respond point by point |
| Notice under Section 148 | The department proposes to assess income it believes escaped assessment | Treat this as serious; a reply is expected within the period stated, following any show-cause under Section 148A |
| Notice of demand under Section 156 | A sum is stated to be payable | Verify the computation; a valid demand and its payment or challenge are time-bound |
| Notice under Section 133(6) | Sends information to a bank, employer or third party | Usually needs no action by you, but check why it was issued |
Reading the notice correctly: the date, the section and the deadline
Every notice or order carries a document identification number, and the department's instructions require it to be quoted on all communication issued in this way. If a notice reaches you without one, that is a serious point to raise, and the portal lets you verify the number against the record. Confirm three things before you do anything else: the assessment year it relates to, the section under which it is issued, and the date by which a reply is due.
Do not assume that every notice gives thirty days. The period is fixed in the notice itself and differs with the section and the type of proceeding. Missing it has consequences: in a scrutiny or reassessment matter, non-compliance can lead to the assessment being completed without your explanation, which is why the response date matters more than the argument you plan to make.
How to respond to a notice online
- Open the specific e-proceeding from the Pending Actions list.
- Read the notice itself, not only the summary line, and note each question or allegation separately.
- Prepare a written reply and attach the supporting documents as PDF files.
- Use the respond or submit option for that proceeding and upload the reply with the attachments.
- Save the acknowledgement and a copy of the uploaded files, and keep the printed notice with them.
Many assessments are now conducted through faceless proceedings, which means your file is handled by a central assessment unit rather than by an officer you visit, and the whole exchange happens through the portal. There are limits on how much can be uploaded in a single submission, so split large annexures sensibly and label each file by what it contains. If the department wants to examine you, that is done under a specific communication and should not be confused with an emailed request.
Notices that are not really from the department
A large share of the letters people complain about are phishing. The signs are a demand sent from a private email address rather than a link to your account, a threat that a case will be registered unless you pay through a link, an attachment that asks for credentials, or an instruction to contact a person on a mobile number. The genuine article appears in your portal with a document identification number, and the payment path is a challan, not a transfer to an individual.
Treat any notice that does not appear in your e-filing account with suspicion until it is verified. Never enter your password or card details on a page you reached from a link in an email.
If the deadline has passed, or you disagree
A missed date is not always the end of the matter. An adjournment can be requested on the portal with reasons, and where the assessment has already been completed, the first step is usually an application for rectification of an apparent mistake against the order, or an appeal. An appeal against an order lies before the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) or the faceless appeal centre under Section 246A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, within the period the Act allows, and it must ordinarily be preceded by payment of the tax on the returned income.
If a demand arises from a mismatch, check the Annual Information Statement, the tax information summary and Form 26AS for the year before you concede anything. If the mismatch is because a return was not filed, the updated return route under Section 139(8A) may be available within the period the Act permits, and it is worth taking advice before the window closes. Grievances on the portal can be raised where a technical issue, rather than a legal point, is holding up a response.
Income tax is not the only portal that sends notices
Much confusion comes from notices that look like income tax notices but belong to a different law. An intimation to a deductor about short deduction or non-payment of tax deducted at source is dealt with under the TDS provisions and often appears in the deductor's own account rather than in the account of the employee whose salary it concerns. Goods and services tax notices are issued and answered on the GST portal, not on the income tax portal, and a notice under the customs, excise or a state tax law comes from the authority that administers that law.
If a letter you have received does not appear in your income tax e-filing account, the first question is whether it belongs there at all. The answer decides which portal, which reply and which deadline actually apply, and answering the wrong one simply wastes the time you have.
Handling it without making it worse
The safest course is to open the notice on the day it appears, note the section and the reply date, and answer in writing with documents rather than by telephone. Do not file a reply that contradicts your own return without explaining the change, and do not ignore a small demand on the assumption that it will lapse: interest and recovery follow the demand, not the goodwill of the officer.
Where the amount is significant, the section under which the notice is issued is one you have not handled before, or the notice relates to a reassessment, the cost of a wrong reply is high. A reply prepared with the computation attached, answering each question in order, is what the portal process rewards. You can read more practical guides on the blog, or seek a consultation before the reply date passes.