Income Tax Assessment Invalid If SCN Sent to Old Email After Update Even If Earlier Notices Acknowledged: Kerala HC
Kerala HC held that an income tax assessment is invalid if a show cause notice is sent to an old email after the taxpayer updates their email, even if earlier notices were acknowledged.
Kerala HC held that an income tax assessment is invalid if a show cause notice is sent to an old email after the taxpayer updates their email, even if earlier notices were acknowledged.In a recent ruling, the Kerala High Court held that an income tax assessment is invalid if a show cause notice is sent to an old email address after the taxpayer has updated their email with the department, even if earlier notices were acknowledged on the old email.
Mediacloud Studio Private Limited filed a writ petition challenging an assessment order passed by the National Faceless Assessment Centre for the assessment year 2023-24. The petitioner’s counsel argued that they had updated their primary and secondary email addresses with the income tax department on 20.09.2024.
The department issued a show cause notice on 05.03.2025 to their old email address, which they did not receive. The petitioner’s counsel argued that this denial of notice prevented them from responding, and the final assessment was passed without their input.
The income tax department’s counsel argued that notices under Sections 143(2) and 142(1) of the Income Tax Act were previously served on the old email address even after the update, and the petitioner had responded, showing the old email was functional and used by the petitioner.
The petitioner’s counsel countered that despite earlier responses, the department was legally required to send subsequent notices to the updated email, and failure to do so violated the petitioner’s right to a fair hearing.
The single-judge bench comprising Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. observed that the petitioner had responded to one notice sent to the old email after updating their contact, but this did not entitle the department to continue using the outdated email for future communications.
The court found that the petitioner had updated their contact details with the department, and the show cause notice was not served in accordance with this update, resulting in the petitioner being denied the opportunity to respond.
The court held that the department’s failure to issue the show cause notice to the updated email address justified the invocation of the court’s writjurisdiction. The court quashed the assessment order and directed the income tax department to issue a fresh show cause notice to the updated email address and to complete the assessment only after giving the petitioner an opportunity to respond. The writ petition was allowed.
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