Wrong IT notification causes confusion, department says ignored

New Delhi/Ahmedabad: income tax department Taxpayers across the country were urged on Saturday to ignore emails that incorrectly marked “significant transactions” in their advance tax e-campaign for Assessment Year (AY) 27, 2026. The advisory comes after several individuals, including thousands in Gujarat, reported receiving notices that were inconsistent with their financial status. In a post on X, the department acknowledged the error and said it was working with the service provider handling the communications system to resolve the issue. Officials said the emails, which were intended to remind taxpayers to review compliance portal information, contained incorrect or duplicate data for some recipients. “It has been reported that some taxpayers have received emails containing inaccurate details about ‘significant transactions’ they made as part of the ongoing tax advance e-campaign for the 2026-27 financial year,” the department said. The department apologized for the inconvenience and advised taxpayers to “please ignore” the email until the issue is resolved. The messages were originally sent after mapping PAN with advance tax, but an error resulted in “bulk messaging”, an official said. The fourth installment of advance tax is due by Sunday. In Gujarat, many taxpayers received erroneous notifications a day before the last deadline for advance tax payment, sparking confusion. The emails contained mismatched or impossible financial details, such as GST turnover for people who were not registered for GST, as well as identical transaction values ​​appearing for different people. CA Karim Lakhani said several taxpayers who did not have any prepayment tax liability were listed under the “significant transactions” category. “Taxpayers who do not have a GST number will receive notifications showing their GST turnover. In many cases, the value of transactions for different people is the same. The government has now clarified the error and asked people to ignore such emails,” he said.