Received an intimation from the IT department? Check the details reported in the ITR

Intimation is preliminary communication from the Income Tax department to the taxpayer that the taxpayer's Income Tax Return (ITR) has been processed by the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) of the Income Tax Department. The CPC automates the processing of ITRs and checks for any arithmetic error, incorrect deductions or losses claimed, mismatches between ITR and Form 26AS, as the information in AIS and Form 26AS is different from the information provided by the taxpayer in the ITR. 

The outcome of the ITR processing is sent to the taxpayer, which is known as the intimation. Intimation is sent as an acknowledgement to the taxpayers that the Income Tax Department has processed their ITRs. Apart from being sent as an acknowledgement, some intimation informs the taxpayer of the inaccuracies in their ITRs being filed. The taxpayer should know how to respond to the intimation received from the Income Tax Department. 

What is an Intimation under the Income Tax Act, 1961?

Intimation is the initial communication from the CPC of the Income Tax Department to the taxpayer that the CPC has processed their ITR. The results of the ITR are communicated to the taxpayer on their registered email IDs along with an SMS alert on their registered mobile number. Also, taxpayers can find the intimation issued by the Income Tax department in their account on the income tax department's e-filing portal. Not only does an intimation acknowledge the completion of processing of the ITR to the taxpayer, but it also informs the taxpayer about any incorrect deductions claimed, arithmetic errors, or discrepancies in the ITR and Form 26AS and AIS. 

Types of Intimation under the Income Tax Act, 1961

Intimation under Section 143(1)

Intimation under Section 143 (1) is the preliminary intimation that is auto-generated by CPC after it automatically processes the ITR of the taxpayer. There are three outcomes of the Intimation under section 143(1) sent to the taxpayer:

Intimation about No Demand/No Refund: This intimation is sent to the taxpayer when the ITR filed by the taxpayer is accurate and the total tax liability calculated by the taxpayer is similar to that calculated by the Income Tax Department based on the information available to the Income Tax Department from various sources.

Intimation about Refund: When the taxpayer has paid more taxes out of TDS, TCS or advance payments than the total tax liability determined by the Income Tax department, the taxpayer will receive an intimation about the refund.

Intimation about Demand: When the taxpayer has paid less taxes out of TDS/TCS or advance payments than the total liability determined by the Income Tax department, he will receive an intimation about demand. The demand notice may arise due to discrepancies in the ITR and the information provided in Form 26AS and AIS.

Action required

In case of no demand/ no refund intimation, no action is required from the taxpayer. If the taxpayer received the intimation about the demand, he should pay the demanded amount to the Income Tax department or file a rectification request if he disagrees with the demand amount. In case of refund intimation, the taxpayer should wait for the refund to be processed by the Income Tax Department.

Time Limit

The intimation under section 143(1) is issued within 9 months from the end of the assessment year in which the ITR has been filed. In case, the assessee do not receive any intimation, the the acknowledgement of ITR-V is to be considered as the intimation from the Income Tax Deopartment.

Intimation under Section 245: Adjustment of Refund against Tax Demand

If there is a tax refund for the current financial year and a tax demand for the previous financial year, the income tax department adjusts the demand amount from the taxpayer's refund and pays the balance refund amount to the taxpayer. The taxpayer is given a 30-day time period to agree with the adjustments. If no response is received from the taxpayer to the Income Tax department, the adjustment will be processed automatically.

Steps to Confirm the Transaction
 

Step 1: Log in to the income tax e-filing portal. Go to https://eportal.incometax.gov.in/iec/foservices/#/login and enter your login credentials.

Step 2: Go to ‘Pending Actions’ > ‘Compliance Portal’ > ‘E-Campaign (AY 2021-22 Onwards)’

Step 3:Click on the ‘Proceed’ button, and you will be directed to the AIS portal.

Step 4: Under the ‘e-Campaign’ list, click on the link provided under DIN.

Step 5: Click on the ‘Provide Feedback in AIS’ button.

Step 6: Click the ‘TDS/TCS Information’ tab and select the relevant section(s) to expand.

Step 7: Check if all the information provided is correct.

Step 8: If the information is correct, you may submit a bulk response stating that the information is correct.

Step 9: You can also submit feedback for individual transactions by clicking on the ‘Optional’ button.

Step 10: Once you complete confirmation of TDS/TCS information, proceed to the next section, i.e. click on the ‘STF Information’ tab.

Step 11: Expand relevant section(s) under the ‘SFT Information’ tab.

Step 12: Check if the information provided is correct.

Step 13: If they are correct, you may submit a bulk response stating the ‘Information is correct’.

Step 14: If some of the information is incorrect, you may submit either ‘Information is denied’ or ‘Information is not fully correct’. If the information is repeated, submit ‘Information is duplicate/included in other information’.

Step 15: Similarly, confirm the transaction details in the ‘Payment of Taxes’, ‘Demand and Refund’, and ‘Other information’. You may follow the same process as TDS/TCS information and STF information.

If the details in the ITR are not disclosed/partially disclosed as per the AIS, then it is prudent to file a revised ITR on or before 31st December 2025 or before the completion of the assessment, whichever is earlier. Taxpayers must show the incomes appearing in the AIS, the incomes already reported in the ITR and pay off any additional income tax while filing the revised return.