Income Tax Notice Under Section 143(1)

An intimation under Section 143(1) is a computer-generated communication the Income Tax Department issues after the Centralized Processing Centre (CPC) processes your filed and verified return. It is technically an intimation, not a scrutiny notice: CPC re-computes your income and tax, compares its figures against yours, and reports whether the return is accepted as filed, a refund is due, or additional tax is payable. Almost every taxpayer receives one. It carries no assessing-officer discretion and, in most cases, requires no reply; the exceptions are a demand outcome or a preceding Section 143(1)(a) proposed adjustment.

A Section 143(1) intimation is the most routine kind of income tax notice a filer meets, the automatic result of having your return processed under the Income-tax Act, 1961 rather than any sign of suspicion. It reaches you by email and SMS from CPC, Bengaluru, once the return is processed. If CPC sends no intimation within the time limit, the acknowledgement of your return is itself deemed to be the intimation under Section 143(1) and processing is treated as complete.

A Section 143(1) intimation ends in exactly one of three outcomes: (1) no change, meaning your figures match CPC's ("no demand, no refund"); (2) a refund, meaning CPC computes tax paid as higher than tax due; or (3) a demand, meaning CPC computes additional tax payable. Only a demand outcome needs action. A refund is credited to your pre-validated, PAN-linked bank account and is issued only when it is ₹100 or more; a demand below ₹100 is not collected.

The intimation shows two side-by-side columns, As provided by the taxpayer and As computed under Section 143(1): compare them row by row (salary, interest, deductions, TDS) to find the disallowance or correction. Unlike a Section 139(9) defective-return notice, which asks you to repair a filing defect, a 143(1) intimation reports a completed computation.

The password for a Section 143(1) intimation PDF is your PAN in lower case followed immediately by your date of birth in DDMMYYYY format, with no space. For a taxpayer with PAN AAAPZ1234C born on 7 January 1990, the password is aaapz1234c07011990. A company, firm or LLP uses its PAN in lower case followed by the date of incorporation in the same DDMMYYYY format (for example, aabcd1234e01042015).

To download a fresh copy from the e-Filing portal:

1. Log in at incometax.gov.in.
2. Open e-File → Income Tax Returns → View Filed Returns.
3. Select the assessment year.
4. Click Download Intimation Order.

The intimation also arrives as an email attachment from CPC, and the password rule is identical for the emailed and downloaded copies. If the emailed PDF will not open, download a fresh copy from the portal rather than re-trying the attachment; the common failures are the PAN entered in upper case, the date typed as MMDDYYYY instead of DDMMYYYY, or an added space.

After receiving a Section 143(1) intimation, first verify your PAN, name, assessment year and acknowledgement number, then act on the outcome.

• Refund: ensure your bank account is pre-validated on the portal, then track the refund status.
• Demand you agree with: pay it through the e-Pay Tax facility (challan under minor head 400, tax on regular assessment).
• Demand you disagree with: file a rectification request under Section 154 for a CPC processing error, or a revised return under Section 139(5) for your own error, but do not do both.
• No demand and no refund: keep the intimation for your records; no reply is needed.

Each of these steps is done on the same portal where you respond to an income tax notice on the e-Filing portal; the rectification-versus-revised-return choice is unpacked in the rectification section below.

Section 143(1)(a) is a "communication of proposed adjustment," a preliminary notice CPC sends before finalising the 143(1) intimation when it spots a specific, apparent discrepancy in your return. It proposes to add income or disallow a claim, and gives you 30 days to respond online. The statute lists six adjustment clauses: an arithmetical error; an incorrect claim apparent from the return; a disallowed loss where the return was filed late; an expense disallowed in the tax-audit report but claimed in the return; and a Chapter VI-A or Section 10AA deduction claimed on a late return. A sixth clause — adding income that appears in Form 26AS/AIS or Form 16 but was omitted from the return — remains on the statute book but, under the third proviso to Section 143(1)(a), cannot be applied to any return for AY 2018-19 or later; so for AY 2026-27 only the first five operate.

Unlike the plain 143(1) intimation, a 143(1)(a) demands a reply: it is a distinct pre-intimation notice with its own 30-day clock, not merely a line inside a later demand. Some taxpayers search for it as "1A in income tax"; the correct reference is Section 143(1)(a). The mismatch usually surfaces from third-party data in Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS). Before you respond, authenticate the notice on the portal to confirm it is genuine.

Ravi files his ITR for AY 2026-27 claiming ₹1,50,000 under Section 80C, but his Form 16/AIS shows the employer reported only ₹1,00,000, and he omitted ₹40,000 of savings-bank interest visible in his AIS. CPC issues a 143(1)(a) proposing to disallow ₹50,000 of the 80C claim and add ₹40,000 of interest income, a total of ₹90,000 of proposed additional income. Ravi has 30 days to agree, partially agree, or disagree with evidence before CPC recomputes his tax.

Section 143(1) and Section 143(1)(a) are two stages of the same processing cycle, not two unrelated notices. The Section 143(1)(a) "communication of proposed adjustment" comes first: CPC flags a specific discrepancy and gives you 30 days to respond. The Section 143(1) intimation is the final result CPC issues after your reply, or after the 30 days lapse, showing the refund, demand, or no-change figure. Put plainly: 143(1)(a) proposes, 143(1) concludes. Only the 143(1)(a) requires a reply; the plain 143(1) intimation usually requires none.

A filer can receive a 143(1) intimation with no preceding 143(1)(a) at all, because the 143(1)(a) is issued only when something needs adjusting.

You respond to a Section 143(1)(a) proposed adjustment on the e-Filing portal within 30 days of the date the communication is issued. Log in at incometax.gov.in, open Pending Actions → e-Proceedings, select the "Prima Facie Adjustment u/s 143(1)(a)," and for each variance choose Agree, Partially Agree, or Disagree. If you disagree, attach the reason and documentary proof (for example, the correct 80C receipts or a Form 26AS entry), then e-verify the response. CPC considers your reply before finalising the 143(1) intimation; if you agree or do not reply within 30 days, it processes the return with the adjustment applied.

The portal flow is short: View Notices → Notice PDF → Provide Response → Save → Proceed to e-Verify. The 30 days run from the date the communication is issued, not from the day it reaches your inbox. Step-by-step screenshots for how to respond to an income tax notice on the e-Filing portal sit on the dedicated response page.

If you ignore a Section 143(1)(a) notice, CPC treats the proposed adjustment as accepted and processes your return with the extra income or disallowed claim included. This usually converts what could have been a refund or a nil result into a tax demand under Section 156, with interest under Sections 234B and 234C added on the recomputed liability. You lose the free chance to contest the adjustment at processing stage; your only routes afterwards are a rectification request under Section 154 or an appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals). In short, silence is treated as consent, and it costs money.

The cost is concrete, and it mirrors the wider penalties for ignoring an income tax notice. In one line, the cascade runs: the 143(1)(a) is ignored, the adjustment is applied, the 143(1) intimation raises a demand, a Section 156 demand notice follows, interest accrues under Sections 234B and 234C, and any later refund can be adjusted under Section 245.

If a Section 143(1) intimation contains a mistake apparent from the record (for example, TDS that CPC failed to credit), you file a rectification request under Section 154 on the e-Filing portal, not a revised return. Log in, go to Services → Rectification, select the assessment year and the 143(1) intimation as the order to be rectified, choose the rectification type (reprocess the return, tax-credit mismatch, or return-data correction), and submit. A rectification under Section 154 can be filed within four years from the end of the financial year in which the intimation was passed.

The fork is simple: a rectification under Section 154 fixes CPC's error in processing, while a revised return under Section 139(5) fixes your own error in the original return. If the intimation raises a valid demand, pay it rather than rectify.

A Section 143(1) intimation cannot be issued after nine months from the end of the financial year in which you furnished the return. For a return filed for AY 2026-27 on 25 July 2026, the return is furnished in FY 2026-27 (which ends 31 March 2027), so CPC must issue the intimation on or before 31 December 2027. If no intimation is sent within this window, the acknowledgement of your return (the ITR-V) is deemed to be the intimation under Section 143(1) and processing is treated as complete. This nine-month limit is the current figure; older guidance citing "one year" reflects the pre-2021 rule.

This nine-month window is the issue limit, distinct from the response window of 30 days for a 143(1)(a). If you have received nothing, check the processing status first under e-File → View Filed Returns, because the intimation is emailed and easily missed; if the nine months lapse with nothing issued, the acknowledgement stands as the intimation. The full income tax notice time limits for every notice type live on the limitation page.

Section 143(1) is an automated summary intimation issued by CPC to nearly every filer after processing; Section 143(2) is a scrutiny notice issued by an assessing officer to a small, selected minority whose return will be examined in detail. A 143(1) usually needs no reply and never involves a hearing; a 143(2) is mandatory to answer and begins a full assessment under Section 143(3). A 143(1) intimation must be issued within nine months from the end of the financial year of filing; a 143(2) scrutiny notice must be issued within three months from the end of that financial year.

A 143(2) begins a far more involved process, covered in full on the Section 143(2) scrutiny page.