June 30 may look like a small date, but it is a big one for taxpayers who filed returns in FY 2025-26. The Income Tax Department’s current guidance says a scrutiny notice under Section 143(2) has to be served within 3 months from the end of the financial year in which the return is furnished. That is why, for returns filed in FY 2025-26, the last date becomes 30 June 2026.
A ‘scrutiny assessment’ is only a close check of the return. It does not automatically mean the taxpayer has done anything wrong. It simply means the officer wants more proof or more explanation before finishing the work. The department also says scrutiny cases can be picked through data analytics and 360-degree profiling, and under the faceless system the notices are handled electronically.
One common reason is a mismatch between Form 26AS, AIS, and the ITR filed. Because from AY 2023-24 onwards, Form 26AS mainly shows TDS and TCS details, while other taxpayer information is kept in AIS. The department also tells taxpayers to check Form 26AS and AIS carefully before filing the return so that the numbers match properly.
Other red flags can also bring a notice. These include a GST turnover mismatch with the tax audit report, a deduction claim that looks too large compared with the income shown, high-value transactions that are missing from the return, or a property sale that is on record with the registrar but not shown in the ITR. Tax department material and tax guides both point to these kinds of gaps as reasons returns may be selected for detailed checking.
The department now has a lot more digital data too. It can match records from banks, TDS sources, property data, and other reporting systems. So a return that looks odd on paper can get picked out for closer review very fast.
If you spot a mistake in your filed ITR, do not wait quietly and hope nobody notices. The tax law allows an Updated Return, also called ITR-U, and the official rule now allows this to be filed within 48 months from the end of the relevant assessment year. The extra tax on an updated return can be 25%, 50%, 60%, or 70%, depending on when it is filed.
If a scrutiny notice has already come, it can be viewed in the e-Proceedings area of the e-Filing portal. The official portal says taxpayers can see notices and submit replies online. In the steps shared in the original text, the taxpayer should log in, go to “e-Proceedings”, open the notice, click “View Notice”, then choose “Submit Response”. After that, the taxpayer can select “Agree” or “Disagree” and upload the papers asked for. The notice may also reach the registered email and can be checked on the portal.
Ignoring the notice is a bad idea. If there is no response, the officer can move ahead with a best judgment assessment under Section 144 based on the information already available.
