Notice for reassessment: income escaped assessment: section 148 notice

The Assessing Officer proposes to assess or reassess income that has, in the officer’s view, escaped assessment, and asks you to file a return.

What it means under the Income-tax Act, 2025 (tax year 2026-27 onwards)

Section 280 lets the Assessing Officer issue a notice, with a copy of the order under section 281(3), requiring you to furnish a return of income for the relevant tax year within the period specified, which cannot exceed three months from the end of the month in which the notice is issued. The return is treated as one under section 263 if furnished in time; a return furnished after the period is not deemed a return under section 263. A notice needs information that suggests income has escaped assessment, and prior approval in the cases listed in section 280(5).

Time limits under the 2025 Act

The return must be filed within the period in the notice, which cannot exceed three months from the end of the month in which the notice is issued. The notice itself cannot be issued after four years and three months from the end of the tax year, or six years and three months where books, documents or evidence show escaped income likely to be Rs 50 lakh or more, and not within one year from the end of any tax year (section 282(1) and (3)).

Under the Income-tax Act, 1961 (tax years before 2026-27)

Section 148. Section 148: after the section 148A order, the Assessing Officer issues a notice requiring a return within the period specified, not less than thirty days from the date of the notice and not more than three months from the end of the month in which it is issued. A notice needs information that suggests income has escaped assessment; the specified authority's approval is needed where the information comes under the section 135A scheme. A return furnished after the period is not deemed a return under section 139. The kinds of information that count are listed in section 148(3).

Time limits. The notice cannot be issued after three years and three months from the end of the relevant assessment year, or five years and three months where books, documents or evidence show escaped income likely to be ₹50 lakh or more (section 149(1)). The oldest assessment years (up to 2021-22) may follow limits in force before 1 September 2024: that text was not in the Act read.

What to do first

1. Check the date the notice was issued and the tax year it names with the calculator.
2. File the return within the period in the notice.
3. Ask for the reasons recorded, if they were not provided with the notice.
4. Ask a chartered accountant at once: a notice of this kind can lead to a reassessment and an appeal.

An outline for a reply

File the return as required by the notice and state in a covering note that it is filed in response to the notice, listing the documents attached and any objection to the notice with its grounds.

Check the deadline

This is a general outline, not a reply to your own notice: facts and documents differ, and the deadline is short. Ask a chartered accountant.

Common questions

Source

• The Income-tax Act, 2025, as published in the Gazette of India Extraordinary: sections 252, 263, 268, 270, 279 to 282, 287, 289, 357, 358, 411, 412 and 536. The enacted text was read on 13 November 2026.
• The Income-tax Act, 1961 (text with amendments, printed by the Income Tax Department on 22 May 2026): sections 133, 139(9), 142, 143, 148, 148A, 149, 150, 154, 156, 220 and 249(2). Downloaded from incometaxindia.gov.in and read on 13 November 2026.
• Old-section to new-section mapping: the Income Tax Department’s section navigator, checked against the Act (see the Income-tax Sections section of this family).

Rules read on 13 November 2026 from the Income-tax Act, 2025. This site explains notices in general terms. It is not legal advice and does not replace a chartered accountant or tax lawyer. A notice has a deadline: do not rely on a web page for your own case, and ask a professional soon.