Mere Upload of Notice in Income Tax Portal Not a Valid Service: ITAT Quashes Assessment Order, Citing Lack of Real Time Alert [Read Order]
The Tribunal quashed the assessment order and ruled that merely uploading a notice on the Income Tax portal without a real-time alert does not constitute valid service under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
![Mere Upload of Notice in Income Tax Portal Not a Valid Service: ITAT Quashes Assessment Order, Citing Lack of Real Time Alert [Read Order]](https://images.taxscan.in/h-upload/2025/07/25/2068825-assessment-order-itat-taxscan.webp "Mere Upload of Notice in Income Tax Portal Not a Valid Service: ITAT Quashes Assessment Order, Citing Lack of Real Time Alert [Read Order]")
The Raipur Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) held that the Income Tax Department’s practice of merely uploading a notice on the e-filing portal, without issuing a real-time alert or serving it through prescribed modes like email or post, renders the notice invalid. Maa Sharda Corporation faced scrutiny for AY 2017-18. The Assessing Officer (AO) issued a notice...
The Raipur Bench of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) held that the Income Tax Department’s practice of merely uploading a notice on the e-filing portal, without issuing a real-time alert or serving it through prescribed modes like email or post, renders the notice invalid.
Maa Sharda Corporation faced scrutiny for AY 2017-18. The Assessing Officer (AO) issued a notice under Section 142(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which the assessee claimed was neither served nor accompanied by a real-time alert.
The AO proceeded with the assessment. Aggrieved by the AO’s order, the assessee filed an appeal before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) [CIT(A)]. The CIT(A) upheld the AO’s order.
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Aggrieved by the CIT(A)’s order, the assessee appealed to the ITAT. The assessee’s counsel argued that the department failed to serve the notice as mandated under Section 282 and Rule 127 of the Income Tax Rules, which require electronic notices to be transmitted via email or other prescribed modes with a real-time alert.
The counsel submitted evidence, including a screenshot from the Income Tax portal, showing no record of proper issuance or service of the notice. The counsel pointed out the notice lacked critical details, such as the sender, recipient, or subject, rendering it defective.
The counsel relied heavily on the Delhi High Court’s ruling in Sumanjeet Agarwal vs. The Income Tax Officer ruled that such notices, lacking real-time alerts, do not constitute valid service under Section 144B(6)(ii)(a) of the Act. The counsel also cited a prior ITAT Raipur decision in Mamta Agrawal vs. Pr. CIT which quashed a revisional order under Section 263 for similar reasons.
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The single member bench comprising ParthaSarathi Chaudhury (Judicial Member), observed that Income Tax portal’s records did not clarify who issued the notice, to whom it was addressed, or its subject matter, suggesting the notice was not issued in accordance with statutory requirements.
The Tribunal further emphasized that Section 144B(6)(ii)(a) mandates a real-time alert for notices uploaded on the portal to be considered validly served. In the absence of such compliance, the notice was deemed akin to non-issued.
The Tribunal concluded that the assessment order was arbitrary and legally void. It quashed the order, stating that the lack of valid notice vitiated the entire assessment process. The appeal of the assessee was allowed.
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