The Income Tax Department provides an 'Authenticate Notice/Order' facility on its e-filing portal, allowing taxpayers to check whether a notice, order or other communication was genuinely issued by them. According to reports from Mint, this facility is available as a pre-login service, meaning taxpayers do not have to sign in to their e-filing account to verify communications. The service can be accessed by entering either PAN, document type, assessment year, date of issue and mobile number or DIN and mobile number directly on the authentication page. As per the department's official FAQ, taxpayers do not need to use their registered mobile number for authentication - any accessible mobile number can be entered to receive the OTP during the verification process.
Income Tax Department communications issued from 1 October 2019 onwards are required to carry a Document Identification Number (DIN). As reported by Mint, this computer-generated unique number is assigned to communications issued by Income Tax Authorities, including notices, orders, letters and other correspondence with taxpayers. According to the department's official FAQ, a communication issued by an Income Tax Authority without a DIN is 'non est in law', meaning it is considered as if it was never issued. The department describes the DIN as a computer-generated unique number that is required to be quoted on communications such as letters, notices, orders and other correspondence issued by an Income Tax Authority on or after October 1, 2019.
For verification using PAN and notice details, taxpayers must visit the e-filing portal and select 'Authenticate Notice/Order issued by ITD'. According to Mint, they must enter their PAN, select the document type and assessment year, provide the relevant year and date of issue, and provide a mobile number. A six-digit OTP will be sent to the entered mobile number, which must be entered to complete the verification. The OTP remains valid for 15 minutes and taxpayers get three attempts to enter the correct OTP. The portal will display the relevant communication details, including document number and date of issue, once the OTP is successfully validated. For DIN-based verification, taxpayers can directly enter the DIN mentioned on the Income Tax communication and provide a mobile number, followed by entering the six-digit OTP received on the mobile number. If no corresponding communication was issued by the Income Tax Department, the system displays a 'No record found for the given criteria' message.
According to Mint, filing your ITR before the 31 July deadline does not guarantee that you will not receive an income tax notice later, as notices can still be issued when the information reported in the ITR does not reconcile with data available with the Income Tax Department. Common triggers for notices include TDS or tax-credit mismatches, income appearing in AIS or Form 26AS but omitted from the ITR, inconsistent schedules, arithmetical errors, unsupported deductions, incorrect loss set-off, or information flagged during scrutiny or verification. As noted by Chartered Accountant Shreya Gupta Goyal, taxpayers should carefully review the notice, assess whether the error is genuine, and respond within the prescribed timeline. Where permissible, filing a revised or updated return can help rectify inadvertent mistakes and reduce potential consequences. The department provides an e-Proceedings facility on its portal through which registered users can view and submit responses to notices, intimations and letters issued by the department.
