Work through the sections in order before any reply is drafted. A reply that answers what was asked, with the document that proves each point, is usually enough.
1. Read the notice
- Issuing authority, and the Act it is under (1961 Act, 2025 Act, or GST law)
- Section and form number printed on the notice, and the year or period it concerns
- Date of issue, date of service, and date for reply
- What exactly is asked: a document, an explanation, a proposed addition, or a demand
- Mode of delivery; the portal’s notices section checked as well as the email inbox
2. Identify the kind
- Automated intimation or mismatch message
- Request for information or documents
- Scrutiny or show-cause notice
- Demand or order; the period for appeal noted
3. Collect
- The notice and every annexure, with proof of the date received
- The return, statement, or filing it refers to, with the acknowledgment
- Books, ledgers, the computation, and the reconciliation behind the figure in question
- Invoices, bank statements, agreements, and challans for each item raised
- Earlier notices, replies, and orders for the same period
- Form 26AS or the Annual Information Statement, or GSTR-1 and GSTR-2B data, as relevant
4. Reply
- Facts stated in order, each tied to an attached document
- Reply limited to what the notice asks
- Submitted in the mode the notice requires; acknowledgment saved
- If more time is needed, the request is made before the date, not after
5. After the reply
- Hearing date, if fixed, entered in the calendar
- If an order is passed: date of the order and the last date for appeal noted
- Rectification, payment to stop interest, or other follow-up decided
Notice ref. ____________________ Received on ____________ Reply due ____________ Handled by ____________________