What does Intimation U/S 143(1) of Income Tax Act mean?

One of my friends called me in a worrying voice telling me he had received an email from Income tax department with subject “Intimation U/S 143(1) for PAN ABCxxxxx4A AY:2019-20”. As with most of us, any communication from taxmen makes us worried and it was not much different for my friend.

Are you in the same boat and have you also received similar email from [email protected] with similar subject? And are you worried about what it means for you?

What does Intimation u/s 143(1) mean?
What does Intimation u/s 143(1) mean?

Well worry not! Intimation U/S 143(1) is sent by Income Tax department in response to the Tax returned filed by you. As the subject suggests “Intimation” – the communication intimates the tax payer about, any tax and interest payable or if you are eligible for refunds.

Also Read: 23 most common Investments and how they are Taxed?

This is done by the computer without any human intervention and checks for following two things:

    1. Any mathematical error or
    2. any incorrect tax claim

What you need to do is open the attached zip file. The zip file contains a PDF file which is password protected. To open this PDF following is your password.

The password is your PAN Number in lower case followed by your date of birth in DDMMYYYY format. So if your PAN Card Number is ABCDE1234A and date of birth is January 1, 1985, then your password would be abcde1234a01011985. The date of birth should be one which is mentioned on your PAN Card.

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Just scroll down and at the end of all calculations you would see two headings.

  1. Net Amount Refundable
  2. Net Amount Payable
Intimation under sec.143(1) of Income Tax Act,1961
Intimation under sec.143(1) of Income Tax Act,1961

In case there is ‘0’ in front of both as in the picture above, it means that your tax return filing was perfect – you neither need to pay any more tax for the year nor you would get any tax refunds.

Also Read:Tax Notices You can get and What to do about it?

In case some amount is mentioned for “Net Amount Refundable” then its good news and you would soon get that amount in your bank account. And if “Net Amount Payable” has some amount mentioned, then you need to pay that much tax to Income tax department.

In case you think there is some error in the calculation sheet, you should consult a qualified CA or good tax expert for further action.

213 thoughts on “What does Intimation U/S 143(1) of Income Tax Act mean?”

  1. ishwar singh panwar

    Hi Amit,

    I had filed my tax returns AY 2015-16 in july 2015

    I received the INTIMATION U/S 143(1) fpr AY 2015-16 5 august. There is no tax refundable or payable.

    I don”t have Digital Signature, is there any problem in my tax return

  2. Hi Amit,

    I had filed my tax returns (had to pay 9K and did so by generating challan online, and paid) for the AY 2014-15 in Aug 2014 itself.

    Why am i receiving the INTIMATION U/S 143(1) fpr AY 2014-15 Now(5th jul 2015) ? Is there some mistake in my filling etc ?

    Please suggest !

    1. “INTIMATION U/S 143(1)” for any AY is nothing to worry about. This is just a summary of your tax calculation for the respective year. Also it shows if there is any Net Amount Payable/Refundable. In case it’s is 0 you need not worry else you may want to consult CA.

  3. Thanks for information on Intimation U/S 143(1) – Also could some one let me know how to pay online if there is any net amount payable(in case of companies).

    1. Sorry I am not much aware of payment related to companies but I think it can be done through banks where you can pay your regular taxes!

  4. Hi,
    As you said, I was very much worried when I got a SMS just now in my mobile, hence I searched online what is Intimation u/s 143(1).
    Thanks for your explanation.
    V.K.Kanniappan

  5. What is the procedure for payment of demand? I have received an intimation that says Net Amount Payable is Rs. 10.
    The Note section says “The payment can be made using the printed challan enclosed. The Tax Payment challan is enclosed where the Tax Payable exceeds Rs. 100.”
    Since the Tax Payable in my case is only Rs. 10, there is no challan enclosed. How do I pay?

    1. Same case for me, I got an intimation with Net Amount Payable is Rs. 10? Do I need to pay this amount, if yes then how can I pay this?

    2. Hi Nova,

      I have also received same email and it shows that Net Amount Payable is 4 Rs. Can you explain me payment procedure if you have done the same ?

  6. I was also worried when I saw the mail from Income tax but now I know its just an acknowledgement. Thanks for the article.

      1. Please explain how can be rectify if Net Amount Payable has some amount mentioned.
        But computation by department is not reflecting a amount of Self Assessment Tax that is present in the taxpayer return calculation and also reflecting correctly in the Form 26AS

  7. Karan Batra - Tax Advisor

    Intimation u/s 143(1) is only an intimation and not a scrutiny notice.

    In most of the cases, ITR-V is considered as an intimation that return has been received by the Tax Department. However, in case of any error found while processing the return – Intimation u/s 143(1) is sent

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