Tax notices and assessments
What each notice actually is, how long you have to reply, and the procedural grounds worth checking before arguing the facts — from the intimation almost every filer receives to reassessment and search.
9 articles · written and reviewed by CA K Sanjay Bhargav, Chartered Accountant
Cornerstone guide
Tax Notice on Deductions & Exemptions Claimed: What to Do
Salaried filers are receiving advisories and notices over deductions and allowances claimed in earlier returns. What the Department is actually doing, how to tell a real claim from an indefensible one, and the difference between a 50% and a 200% penalty.
Notice Under Section 142(1): What the Officer Can Ask For
The inquiry notice that precedes assessment. What the officer is entitled to call for, the limits on that power, the special-audit direction, and why ignoring it is the worst available option.
Income Tax Search and Seizure: Block Assessment Rules
For searches conducted on or after 1 September 2024, assessment is under the reintroduced block assessment scheme rather than Section 153A. What changed, how a survey differs from a search, and what the safeguards are.
Section 143(2) Scrutiny Notice: Limitation and Defences
Your return has been selected for scrutiny. Before the merits, one question decides many of these cases: was the 143(2) notice issued within limitation — because the Supreme Court has held its absence is fatal, not curable.
HRA Claims Under Scrutiny: What Evidence Actually Holds
House rent allowance is among the most examined salary exemptions. The computation, the two thresholds that create a paper trail, and what separates a claim that survives from one that does not.
Your Refund Was Adjusted Against an Old Demand. What Now?
A refund that never arrived, absorbed by a demand from a year you had forgotten. What Section 245 requires before that can happen, and why the underlying demand is so often wrong.
Got a 143(1) Intimation? What It Means, and the 30 Days
Almost every filer receives one, and most misread it as a notice. What the two columns actually compare, the adjustments CPC is permitted to make, and the difference between the 30-day window and the four-year one.
Section 148 Reassessment Notice: Time Limits and Defences
Reassessment reopens a year you thought was closed. Before arguing the merits, three things decide many of these cases: whether the notice is within limitation, whether the monetary gate was crossed, and whether sanction came from the right authority.
Got a Notice on a Political Donation Deduction?
A 100% deduction with no monetary ceiling, verifiable against the donee's own filing. Why 80GGC became the centre of the refund crackdown, and what separates a valid claim from one that will not survive.
Other topics
- Business tax, audit and filing
- GST — registration, returns and credit
- Foreign income, RSUs and ESOPs
- Bank finance and company compliance
- Internal controls, IT audit and data protection
- Service exports, GCCs and professionals
- Manufacturing and industry
- Real estate, JDAs and development
- The Income-tax Act 2025 transition
Have a question? Send it on WhatsApp.
Describe your matter or send the document. You get a clear assessment — what it means, what's needed, the timeline and the fee — before any commitment.