Reply to Notice Under Section 139(9) — Defective Return Draft

INCOME-TAX DEPARTMENT — CENTRALISED PROCESSING CENTRE (CPC), BENGALURU
Response filed through the e-Filing portal under the
"Defective Return u/s 139(9)" service.

Name of Assessee   : [Name of Assessee]
PAN                : [ABCDE1234F]
Assessment Year    : [A.Y. 20__-__]
Original Ack. No.  : [Acknowledgement number] dated [DD/MM/YYYY]
Communication Ref. : [CPC communication / DIN] dated [DD/MM/YYYY]
Error Code(s)      : [e.g. 14 / 31 / 38 / 86 / 202]
Response Date      : [DD/MM/YYYY]

To,
The Assistant Commissioner of Income-tax (CPC),
Centralised Processing Centre, Bengaluru.

Subject: Response to notice under section 139(9) of the Income-tax Act,
         1961 — return treated as defective for A.Y. [20__-__] — reg.

Respected Sir/Madam,

1.  This is with reference to the intimation under section 139(9) dated
    [DD/MM/YYYY] communicated by CPC, whereby the return of income filed by
    the assessee for A.Y. [20__-__] vide acknowledgement no. [___] has been
    treated as defective for the following reason (Error Code [__]):

    "[Reproduce the exact defect described in the notice, e.g. 'Gross
    receipts shown in Form 26AS/TDS are not offered as income' / 'Books of
    account not maintained / Balance Sheet and P&L not filled although
    income under head PGBP is declared' / 'Tax has not been paid on the
    returned income']."

2.  The assessee submits as under:

    [OPTION A — where the defect is accepted and rectified]
    The defect is duly rectified by filing a corrected return in the
    prescribed ITR form. In the corrected return: [state correction, e.g.
    "the receipts of ₹[amount] appearing in Form 26AS have been offered
    under the head [___]" / "the Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss items in
    the 'No account case' schedule have been completed" / "the self-
    assessment tax of ₹[amount] has been paid vide challan CIN [___] dated
    [DD/MM/YYYY] and incorporated"]. The corrected return has been
    uploaded/e-verified on [DD/MM/YYYY].

    [OPTION B — where the return is not defective]
    With respect, the return is not defective because [explanation, e.g.
    "the receipts flagged pertain to [exempt/already-offered] income and
    are duly reflected in Schedule [__]" / "the assessee is covered by the
    presumptive scheme under section 44AD/44ADA and is not required to
    maintain regular books, hence the P&L/Balance Sheet schedules are not
    applicable"]. It is therefore requested that the original return filed
    on [DD/MM/YYYY] be accepted as valid.

3.  A reconciliation of income offered vis-à-vis Form 26AS / AIS / TIS is
    enclosed at Annexure-[__], demonstrating that all receipts stand duly
    accounted for.

PRAYER
It is prayed that the [corrected return filed in response be treated as a
valid return relating back to the date of the original return] / [original
return be accepted as valid, the defect notice being not applicable to the
assessee's case], and the return be processed under section 143(1)
accordingly.

List of enclosures:
  1. Copy of section 139(9) intimation.
  2. Copy of original / corrected return and computation.
  3. Reconciliation with Form 26AS / AIS.
  4. Challan for self-assessment tax, if paid.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

For [Name of Assessee]

______________________________
[Signature — Assessee / Authorised Representative]
Name : [Name]     PAN: [ABCDE1234F]
Place: [City]     Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]