Income Tax Scrutiny Notice 2026: What Section 143(2) and Section 148 Actually Mean, and How to Respond
By Nitish Bharadwaj · Published Sep 7, 2026 · 7 min
A Section 143(2) scrutiny notice means an assessing officer has selected your filed return for detailed review, not just an automated check — it must generally be served within three months from the end of the financial year in which the return was filed. Section 148 works differently: it reopens an already-processed year when the department believes income escaped assessment, following a mandatory Section 148A show-cause step first. This guide explains what triggers each, the current time limits, and how to respond through the e-filing portal's faceless assessment process without missing a deadline.
Every filed ITR eventually gets a Section 143(1) intimation — automated, computer-generated, and sent to essentially every filer regardless of whether anything's wrong. A notice under Section 143(2) or Section 148 is nothing like that. Both mean an actual assessing officer has looked at your file and decided it needs closer attention, and both come with specific procedures and deadlines that a computer-generated intimation never carries.
Section 143(2): Your Current Year's Return Selected for Scrutiny
A Section 143(2) notice is issued when your already-filed return — for a year that hasn't yet been fully assessed — gets picked for detailed scrutiny rather than being accepted as filed after the automated 143(1) check. Selection happens either through CASS (Computer Assisted Scrutiny Selection), which flags returns based on risk parameters such as a mismatch with Form 26AS or AIS, unusually large deductions relative to income, or high-value transactions reported by third parties, or occasionally through manual selection in specific categories the department identifies each year. The notice itself must generally be served within three months from the end of the financial year in which the return was filed — a return for FY 2025-26 filed during the 2026 filing season would need any 143(2) notice served by June 30, 2027, since the relevant financial year (2026-27, in which the return was furnished) ends March 31, 2027.
Section 148: Reopening a Year Already Assessed
Section 148 operates on entirely different territory — it doesn't apply to a return currently being processed, but to a past year the department believes has already let income escape assessment. This could be because of information the department received later, such as a high-value property transaction, a large cash deposit, or a foreign asset that never showed up in that year's return. Since the 2021 overhaul of the reassessment framework, the department can't jump straight to a Section 148 notice — it must first issue a show-cause notice under Section 148A, give the taxpayer an opportunity to respond with an explanation and evidence, and only then pass an order under Section 148A(d) deciding whether reassessment is actually warranted before the 148 notice itself is issued.
| Circumstance | Time Limit |
|---|---|
| Ordinary case | Up to 3 years from the end of the relevant assessment year |
| Escaped income represented as an asset, expenditure, or entry, and likely to be ₹50 lakh or more | Up to 10 years from the end of the relevant assessment year |
How the Two Compare to a Routine 143(1) Intimation
The distinction matters because the response required is completely different depending on which one lands in your inbox. Our Section 143(1) intimation guide covers the automated version most filers encounter — no officer involvement, no selection, just a systems-level comparison. A 143(2) or 148 notice is the opposite: a human decision to look closer, with real consequences for not responding properly.
| Section 143(1) | Section 143(2) | Section 148 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Automated processing intimation | Scrutiny notice on the filed return | Reassessment notice for a past year |
| Who issues it | CPC (system-generated) | Assessing officer | Assessing officer, after Section 148A process |
| Applies to | Every processed return | A return selected via CASS or manual criteria | A year believed to have escaped assessment |
| Typical deadline to act | 30 days if a demand is raised | As specified in the notice; document-heavy response | Response required at the 148A show-cause stage itself |
What Typically Triggers a Scrutiny or Reassessment Notice
- A mismatch between the income, TDS, or deductions declared in the ITR and what shows up in Form 26AS or the Annual Information Statement — reconciling these before filing is covered in our Form 26AS vs AIS guide.
- High-value transactions reported to the department by banks and registrars — large cash deposits (our cash deposit limit guide covers the ₹10 lakh reporting threshold), high-value property purchases, or large mutual fund and stock market transactions.
- Deductions or exemptions claimed that appear disproportionately large relative to declared income, without matching documentation on file.
- Information received from a third-party source — a TDS deductor, a foreign tax authority under an information-exchange agreement, or another government department — that wasn't reflected in the original return.
- Non-filing of a return despite the department holding records of high-value financial activity under that PAN.
How to Respond: Faceless Assessment on the E-Filing Portal
Nearly all scrutiny and reassessment proceedings in India now run through the Faceless Assessment Scheme — there's no in-person meeting with an assessing officer in the ordinary course, and every notice, response, and order moves through the e-Proceedings section of the income tax e-filing portal. Once a notice is issued, it typically also arrives by email and SMS, but the authoritative version and the only place to respond is the portal itself.
- Log in to the e-filing portal and check the e-Proceedings tab under Pending Actions — this is where the notice, any annexures, and the response window are all listed.
- Read the specific reason for selection stated in the notice rather than assuming it's a generic check — 143(2) notices increasingly specify whether the scrutiny is 'limited' to particular issues or 'complete', which changes how broad a response needs to be.
- Gather the specific documents the notice references — bank statements, investment proofs, sale deeds, or TDS certificates — and upload them within the response window given, requesting an adjournment through the portal if genuinely needed rather than letting the deadline lapse.
- For a 148A show-cause notice, respond within the stated window with a clear explanation and supporting evidence — this is the actual opportunity to prevent reassessment from being opened at all, not a formality to skip before the 'real' notice arrives.
- Engage a chartered accountant for anything beyond a straightforward documentation mismatch — both 143(2) scrutiny and 148 reassessment can result in additional tax, interest, and penalty if the department's position isn't properly contested.
The Bottom Line
A Section 143(1) intimation is background noise almost every filer eventually gets. A Section 143(2) or Section 148 notice is not — it means an officer, not a computer, has decided your file needs a closer look, and both carry real deadlines and real consequences for ignoring them. Check the e-Proceedings tab the moment either notice arrives, read the stated reason carefully rather than assuming the worst or dismissing it, and get professional help early if the documentation involved goes beyond a simple mismatch. For the filing-season basics that keep most returns from attracting this kind of attention in the first place, see our complete ITR filing guide for AY 2026-27.