You received an income-tax notice: what to do first

Read these five things first

Before anything else, find these on the notice itself:

1. What kind of notice it is, and the section it is issued under.
2. The tax year or assessment year it concerns.
3. The date it was issued.
4. The deadline to respond.
5. The document identification number (DIN). Communications from the department carry one.

Check it is real

Log in to the e-filing portal yourself, by typing the address, and look under Pending Actions, then e-Proceedings. A genuine notice appears there. If a message asks you to pay, or to share bank or login details through a link, do not use the link. Go to the portal and look for the notice instead.

The most common one: an intimation after you file

After a return is processed, the department sends an intimation comparing what you filed with its records, such as TDS credits and the annual information statement. Under the 1961 Act this is the intimation under section 143(1), and the 2025 Act carries the same process under a new section number, which the notice itself will quote.

If it proposes an adjustment, the portal guidance gives you 30 days from the date of issue to respond. You can accept the adjustment or disagree with it item by item. If you do not respond, the adjustment is made.

If the intimation contains a mistake that is apparent from the record, you can ask for a rectification instead. A rectification request to the central processing centre cannot be filed after four years from the end of the financial year in which the intimation was issued, though a request to your assessing officer remains possible. Once submitted, a rectification request cannot be withdrawn.

The other kinds

Notices asking for information or an explanation, notices that a return was not filed, and notices about reopening an earlier year are a different matter. Deadlines are short, and what you say is on the record. Replying with the wrong facts is worse than asking for more time, so these are worth having read by someone before you answer.

Which law applies

The Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026. The 1961 Act still governs FY 2025-26 and earlier, including proceedings already under way, so a notice about an older year will cite the old sections. Sections quoted in a notice are the ones that apply to it.

What to have ready

Whoever answers will want the return you filed and its computation, your Form 26AS and annual information statement for the year, and the documents behind any figure the notice questions.