We have been recently receiving a lot of mails asking for help for the Intimation received u/s 245 from the department. Most assesses are unaware of their outstanding demands for previous years. They filed their returns during the previous year but didn’t care to know the status of the return i.e. if it has been processed or any demand has been raised on it. As most of the returns were filed manually, the department used to send intimation via post which has often been missed or ignored by assesses or not delivered at all. Due to this reason their outstanding demand has not been settled till date.

CPC has been lately sending out intimation u/s 245 to assessee having outstanding demand for previous years adjusting it with the refunds of the AY 12-13. The demand notice states that, the refund for FY 11-12 (AY 12-13) is being adjusted with the outstanding demands for previous years. They have mentioned the AY for which there is an outstanding demand along with the amount outstanding and the section under which demand had been raised. They have given a timeline of 30 days, wherein if no communication was made with the AO the refund would be considered for adjustment with the outstanding demand.

This has come as a shock to many individuals who were unaware of such outstanding demand for previous years. The reason for the outstanding demand has also not been mentioned making people confused and worried even more. Mostly in the case of salaried individuals demand has been raised for unknown reasons. Even though proper taxes had been deducted at source and the same reflects in Form 26AS, they are unaware of the reason for the demand. No further details of such demand are available online as the details of the return have been transferred to Local AO.

So in view of the above intimation from department we have jotted down some important points to be noted which can assist you in knowing about your demand and help you in solving the problem:

• As the return for the relevant AY has been transferred to Local Assessing Officer, rectification cannot be processed online.
• If you want to do a rectification against the outstanding demand you would have to contact your Local AO in your jurisdiction. You can check your jurisdiction online from the income tax department website i.e. www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and click on “Know Your Jurisdiction”.
• Please carry the necessary supporting documents including the intimation u/s 245 the rectification i.e. ITR Form, ITR Acknowledgement, Tax Computation, Details of Income and Tax Investments made, Form 26AS, etc.
• A timeline of 30 days is given from the department. If no respond is made within this time limit, the refund for AY 12-13 will be considered for adjustment against outstanding demand.
• If the outstanding demand amount for previous years are greater than the tax refund for FY 11-12 (AY 12-13), the balance demand will still reflect as outstanding demand for the relevant year. The refund for future years may further be adjusted with the balance outstanding amount.