Tax Notice? Demand 1 Right Before You Pay

Bombay High Court ruled that if you request a personal hearing during an income tax assessment under Section 144B and the officer ignores that request, the entire assessment order can be cancelled. You have a legal right to be heard before any tax demand is raised against you.

Here's what happened: Bombay High Court set aside an income tax assessment order where the taxpayer's written request for a personal hearing was not granted before the final demand was issued.. The case involved Section 144B of the Income Tax Act, which governs faceless assessments — the system now used for most individual income tax scrutiny cases in India.. The court held that denying a requested personal hearing is a violation of natural justice, making the resulting assessment legally invalid regardless of the tax amount involved..

What you should do: Check your income tax portal inbox — if you have an active scrutiny notice under Section 144B, file a written personal hearing request before submitting your response.. If a tax demand has already been raised against you without granting your hearing request, file a Challenge at Commissioner (Appeals) citing violation of Section 144B procedure.. Save all portal acknowledgements when submitting hearing requests — this timestamped proof is your strongest protection if the demand is ever contested in court..

Filing a personal hearing request does not delay your case — it creates a legal tripwire. If the officer skips it and issues a demand anyway, that demand is automatically vulnerable to challenge.