Filed ITR is defective if any:
A notice u/s 139(9) is sent by the IT Department if the return is found defective.
Common reasons for defective return notice are as follows:
Defective Return notice u/s 139(9) is issued when there is a discrepancy between Income details filed in ITR & TDS deducted as per Form 26AS. Following are the common reasons for mismatch notice if TDS is deducted under section:
To know the exact defect look at the TDS Section mentioned in your Form 26AS and Income Details in ITR.
Ajay earned income from freelancing during FY 2018-19. Freelancing income is considered as Professional Income and TDS is deducted u/s 194J of TDS. However, he reported the income under the head Salary. Here he would receive defective return notice with a mismatch in TDS and Income Details. Form 26AS with TDS Section 194J
ITR filed with Salary Income
Part B Gross Total Income | |||
B1 | Income from Business and Profession Note – Enter value from E8 of Sch BP |
0 | |
B2
|
(i) | Gross Salary | 685074 |
(ia) | Gross Salary as per 17(1) | 685074 | |
(ib) | Value of
perquisites as per section 17(2)
|
0 | |
(ic) | Profits in lieu of salary as per section 17(3) | 0 |
Defective return notice u/s 139(9) is issued when there is a discrepancy between total taxes paid as per Form 26AS and total taxes payable in filed ITR. Following are the common reasons for tax dues:
You can know the defect from ITR and Form 26AS. Let’s take an example: Vijay is a salaried individual with freelancing income. His employer deducted his TDS on salary, However, no TDS was deducted on his freelancing income. While filing ITR-4 for FY 2018-19, he offered all his incomes but forgot to make payment of self-assessment tax before filing ITR. In this case, he would receive defective return notice for return filed with tax dues.
Individuals should maintain P&L and Balance Sheet under the following two conditions:
IT Department issues notice u/s 139(9) if return filed with P&L and Balance Sheet details and assessee files return is without it. Following are the common reasons for defect:
You can check the Schedule P&L and Schedule Balance Sheet in filed ITR to know the defect.
Aman is a general commission agent. And he earns commission income from different companies during FY 2018-19. In this case, his income falls under the head Business & Profession. And he is not eligible to opt for presumptive taxation scheme u/s 44AD. He did maintain P&L and Balance Sheet. But while filing his ITR for FY 2018-19, he forgot to fill details in Balance Sheet. In this case, he would receive defective return notice for return filed without P&L and Balance Sheet.
Individuals are required to get their books of accounts audited in the following cases:
Any Practising Chartered Accountant can carry out tax audit on books of accounts of a taxpayer. The prepared tax audit report is required to be submitted on the income tax e-filing portal. It also needs to be approved by a taxpayer before filing ITR. In following cases you can receive defective return notice when returns are filed without an audit report:
For example, Bharat is a salaried individual who also does F&O Trading. His turnover from trading is INR 2.5 Crore. Here, he is required to get his books of accounts audited. But while filing ITR-3 for FY 2018-19, he did not get his books of accounts audited. In this case, he would receive defective return notice for the return filed without a tax audit report.
Login to the e-Filing portal using valid credentials and click on Pending Actions > E-Proceedings from the dashboard.
Navigate to the Self section and click on “View Notices“
Click on Notice/Letter pdf. and scroll down and you will have the option to download the notice.
Click on the submit response option.
Choose from the options provided as to whether you agree with the terms of the notice or disagree.
If you select Agree, then select Mode of Response as Online (Click Proceed with ITR and you will be able to open the ITR form online for the correction of defect) or Offline (upload the correct XML/ JSON file as applicable) and click Continue.
If you select Disagree, then select the reason from the list of options given in the dropdown and click Continue.
Select the Declaration checkbox and click Proceed to e-Verify.
After successful e-Verification, a success message is displayed along with a Transaction ID. Please keep a note of the Transaction ID for future reference. You will also receive a confirmation message on your email ID registered on the e-Filing portal.
If you don’t file a response within 15 days then your return can be treated as an Invalid Return. Invalid return means no return has been filed for that year. And you can end up with penalties for failure to file return in time. However, you can file a revised return afterwards to save yourself from a penalty.
No. There is no need to e-verify the ITR filed in response to defective return notice.
You will receive an acknowledgement to your email mentioned in return. You can also download the same from your account on the income tax e-filing portal.
You can file the revised return from your login on Income Tax E-filing Website. However this return is to be filed u/s 139(5) and not under 139(9) with details of the original return. For FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) the due date to file revise return is 31/03/2019.
Hi @emmy
There are 3 steps to follow:
Hope this helps!
I filed my return with tax dues and got notice u/s 139(9). What should I do if the time limit has expired for response u/s 139(9) and I wish to file a response?
Hey @emmy
You can file the revised return from your login on Income Tax E-filing Website. File this return u/s 139(5) and not under 139(9) with details of the original return.
I forgot to mention balance sheet details in ITR-3 and received a notice. What is the solution?
Hi @emmy
There are 2 steps to resolve defect and file a response with the Income Tax Department: