142(I) Notice Under the Income Tax Act

One of the most stomach-churning moments for a person is the time when they end up receiving an income tax notice. While receiving a notice from the income tax department is definitely a worrisome matter, it is not the end of the world. The 142(i) notice under the income tax act is one of them. Understanding this notice would assist people to not go into panic mode once they receive it.

Section 142 (i) tax notice

This type of notice is the one where after the individual has filed the income tax return; further details are needed to be confirmed by the auditor. The conditions in which this type of notice can be sent are:

1. The taxpayer hasn’t furnished the income tax return properly
2. There is some information missing from the income tax return.

Why is 142(i) income tax notice issued

As we have stated, the purpose of this form of notice is to confirm the details of the income taxpayer and assess them further under the income tax act. It is more like a preliminary investigation in this sense. The reason for the issue of this notice can be any of the following:

1. Return furnishing: By issuing this particular notice, the Assessment Officer asks the taxpayer to furnish the income tax return properly based on their (tax payer’s) income. Another reason for this can be that the income tax return hasn’t been filed yet. In this case, as well, the AO uses the notice to prompt return filing.
2. Document assessment: The Assessment officer may use this notice in order to get access to the documents and accounts information of the taxpayer for proper assessment.
3. Information furnishing: The AO can use the notice to ask the taxpayer to properly furnish the information pertaining to any matter that involves any sort of statement. For example, the statement of assets and liabilities on a particular date.

How to deal with this notice?

Now that you have a rough idea as to why this notice is published, how do you act accordingly? Well, the good news is that the taxpayer is given a good opportunity to respond to the notice properly.

1. After you have filed the return and then have received the notice, you would have to produce the documents that are mentioned in the notice
2. After the document submission, you would be given a proper chance to tell your side of the issue. If there are any issues with the documents, you would be given a chance to clear those discrepancies.
3. If you haven’t filed the notice yet, then accordingly, you need to file the notice before the prescribed time. After the filing, you can either download the ITR form or mail it to the income tax office or if you have connected your AADHAR card with the PAN card, you can submit the entire confirmation online.

What if you don’t respond to the notice?

Well, regardless of the opportunities that you are given to clear this notice up, “clearing” this notice is an important task. The reason for this article is not to make you procrastinate from answering the notice; it is to motivate you to do so easily. If you still don’t respond to the notice, there is going to be a best judgment assessment. The penalties further include the following:

1. For each failure, you would be imposed INR 10,000/-.
2. The prosecution under section 276D might extend up to 1 year.

Author: Dushyant Sharma

Hey there, I'm Dushyant Sharma. With the extensive knowledge I've gained in past 8 years, I have been creating content on various subjects such as banking, insurance, telecom, and all the important registration and licensing processes for various companies. I'm here to help everyone with my expertise in these areas through my articles.