Income Tax Lawyer in Jalpaiguri

Income-tax matters handled

Satyajit Paul is enrolled with the Bar Council of West Bengal and practises at the Calcutta High Court, Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri. An advocate may appear for an assessee before income-tax authorities and the Appellate Tribunal as an authorised representative, and in the High Court in his own right. In income-tax law he accepts briefs in the following matters:

• Replies to notices for inquiry, scrutiny and ex parte assessment
• Reassessment proceedings: replies to show-cause notices before reopening, and objections to reopening
• Appeals to the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) and the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals)
• Appeals and cross-objections before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal
• Appeals to the High Court on substantial questions of law
• Writ petitions under Article 226 against notices and orders issued without jurisdiction, out of time or without a hearing
• Penalty proceedings for under-reporting and misreporting of income
• Applications for revision, rectification of mistakes and stay of demand
• Defence in prosecution complaints filed under the income-tax law

Routine work such as preparing and filing returns, maintaining accounts and audit is the province of chartered accountants and tax practitioners. Someone searching for "tax consultants in Jalpaiguri" or a "tax advocate in Siliguri" may need either; this page is about disputes.

Which Act applies: the 1961 Act or the 2025 Act?

The Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026 (section 1(3)) and repealed the Income-tax Act, 1961 (section 536(1)). The new Act replaces the old "previous year" and "assessment year" with a single "tax year", and renumbers almost every provision. The substance of the assessment and appeal machinery is largely carried over.

The savings clause matters more than the new numbering for most disputes being fought today. Under section 536(2) of the 2025 Act, the 1961 Act continues to apply to any proceeding pending on 1 April 2026, and to any proceeding begun on or after that date (notices, assessment, reassessment, rectification, penalty, revision and appeals) for a tax year that began before 1 April 2026. Pending appeals before the Commissioner (Appeals), the Appellate Tribunal and the courts continue as if the new Act had not been enacted.

In practice, therefore, a reassessment notice received in 2026 for financial year 2021-22, or a scrutiny notice for the return filed in 2025, is still governed by the 1961 Act and its procedure. The 2025 Act governs tax year 2026-27 onwards. The table below gives the corresponding provisions most often met in disputes.

Subject	Income-tax Act, 1961	Income-tax Act, 2025
Inquiry before assessment (notice to produce accounts or file a return)	s.142(1)	s.268(1)
Processing of return; scrutiny notice; scrutiny assessment	s.143(1), 143(2), 143(3)	s.270(1), 270(8), 270(10)
Ex parte assessment where the assessee does not comply	s.144	s.271
Faceless assessment	s.144B	s.273
Income escaping assessment; show-cause before reopening; reassessment notice; time limits	ss.147, 148A, 148, 149	ss.279, 281, 280, 282
Rectification of mistake	s.154	s.287
Notice of demand	s.156	s.289
Appeal to Joint Commissioner (Appeals) / Commissioner (Appeals); limitation	ss.246, 246A, 249	ss.356, 357, 358
Appeal to the Appellate Tribunal	s.253	s.362
Appeal to the High Court	s.260A	s.365
Revision by the Commissioner (prejudicial to revenue / other orders)	ss.263, 264	ss.377, 378
Penalty for under-reporting and misreporting	s.270A	s.439
Wilful attempt to evade tax (prosecution)	s.276C	s.478

Common income-tax notices and what they mean

Most notices are now issued electronically through the e-filing portal and the faceless assessment system, so the jurisdictional income-tax office in Siliguri or Jalpaiguri is often not the authority that will decide the case. Replies are filed online, and a personal hearing by video conference can be requested in faceless proceedings.

• Intimation after processing (s.143(1) of the 1961 Act; s.270(1) of the 2025 Act): a computerised adjustment for arithmetical errors, incorrect claims apparent from the return, or mismatches with the audit report. The assessee must be told of a proposed adjustment and given thirty days to respond. Errors can be corrected by rectification or appeal.
• Notice of inquiry (s.142(1); s.268(1)): requires a return to be filed, accounts or documents to be produced, or written information to be given. Non-compliance can lead to an ex parte assessment under section 144 (section 271) and penalty.
• Scrutiny notice (s.143(2); s.270(8)): selects a return for detailed examination. It must be served within three months from the end of the financial year in which the return was filed. A notice served later is a jurisdictional defect.
• Show-cause notice proposing additions: in faceless assessment a draft or show-cause notice sets out the proposed variations. This is the stage at which documents and explanations carry most weight; material not placed before the Assessing Officer is harder to introduce in appeal.
• Penalty notice: under-reporting attracts penalty of 50 per cent of the tax on the under-reported income, and misreporting 200 per cent (s.270A; s.439). Immunity from penalty is available in some cases if the tax is paid and no appeal is filed.

Reassessment: income escaping assessment

Reopening a completed or unassessed year is the area in which the most writ petitions are filed. Under the 1961 Act, as amended by the Finance Acts of 2021 and 2024, the Assessing Officer must follow a set sequence:

1. There must be information which suggests that income has escaped assessment, of the kinds listed in the statute (for example risk-management flags, audit objections, survey material or information received from another agency).
2. Except in specified cases, the officer issues a show-cause notice under section 148A (section 281 of the 2025 Act) with that information, and the assessee is given time to reply.
3. The officer passes an order, with the approval of the specified authority, deciding whether it is a fit case to reopen.
4. Only then is the reassessment notice issued under section 148 (section 280), requiring a return for that year.

Time limits. For notices issued on or after 1 September 2024 under the 1961 Act, a section 148 notice ordinarily cannot be issued after three years and three months from the end of the assessment year; beyond that, and up to five years and three months, it can be issued only where the escaped income is fifty lakh rupees or more. The 2025 Act, in section 282, counts from the end of the tax year: four years and three months generally, and up to six years and three months where the escaped income is fifty lakh rupees or more. Because the tax year ends a year before the old assessment year, the periods are broadly the same. Sanction must come from the authority named in the statute.

In Union of India v. Ashish Agarwal (2022) the Supreme Court treated reassessment notices issued under the old procedure after 1 April 2021 as show-cause notices under the new section 148A, so that assessees could reply and the officer could then decide afresh. A defect in jurisdiction, time limit or sanction is usually raised first in the reply and, where it goes to the root of the matter, by writ petition.

Appeals: Commissioner (Appeals), the Appellate Tribunal and the High Court

First appeal. An assessment, reassessment, penalty or other appealable order is challenged before the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals), or for certain orders the Joint Commissioner (Appeals). The appeal is filed online in the prescribed form within thirty days of service of the notice of demand or of the order (s.249 of the 1961 Act; s.358(3) of the 2025 Act). The tax on the returned income must have been paid. Delay can be condoned for sufficient cause. First appeals are largely conducted through the faceless appeal system, with written submissions and, on request, a hearing by video conference.

Second appeal. An order of the Commissioner (Appeals) can be challenged before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal within two months from the end of the month in which the order is received (s.253; s.362(3)). The respondent may file cross-objections within thirty days of receiving notice of the appeal. The Tribunal is the last authority on facts. For assessees in West Bengal its benches sit at Kolkata, and stay of demand pending the appeal can be sought from the Tribunal.

Third appeal. An appeal lies to the High Court against an order of the Tribunal only if the case involves a substantial question of law (s.260A; s.365). It must be filed within 120 days of receipt of the Tribunal's order, is heard by a bench of at least two Judges, and the Court decides the question of law it formulates. A further appeal lies to the Supreme Court.

Revision, rectification and stay of demand

• Revision against the assessee (s.263; s.377): the Principal Commissioner or Commissioner can revise an assessment that is both erroneous and prejudicial to the revenue, after giving the assessee a hearing. The revision order is appealable to the Tribunal.
• Revision in favour of the assessee (s.264; s.378): an application to the Commissioner for relief against an order, often used where an appeal is not available or was not filed.
• Rectification (s.154; s.287): a mistake apparent from the record, such as a wrong computation or credit for tax not given, can be corrected on application.
• Stay of demand (s.220(6) of the 1961 Act): where an appeal is pending before the Commissioner (Appeals), the Assessing Officer can treat the assessee as not in default on such conditions as he thinks fit. If stay is refused unreasonably, the matter can be taken to higher income-tax authorities and, in suitable cases, to the High Court.

Writ petitions against income-tax notices and orders

A writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution is not a substitute for an appeal. The High Court usually asks an assessee to use the statutory remedy. It does, however, entertain writs in the categories recognised by the Supreme Court in Whirlpool Corporation v. Registrar of Trade Marks (1998): where the authority has acted wholly without jurisdiction, where the principles of natural justice have been violated, where a fundamental right is affected, or where the validity of the statute itself is challenged.

In income-tax matters writs are commonly filed against:

• reassessment notices issued after the time limit, without the required sanction, or without the show-cause procedure;
• assessment or penalty orders passed without considering a reply, or without the personal hearing that was requested in faceless proceedings;
• orders passed against a dead person, a dissolved firm, or an entity that has been amalgamated;
• coercive recovery, such as attachment of bank accounts, while a stay application or appeal is pending.

The Calcutta High Court hears income-tax writs from West Bengal. Where the cause of action arises within Darjeeling (including Siliguri), Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar or Cooch Behar, a writ petition can be presented at the Circuit Bench at Jalpaiguri, which is where Satyajit Paul practises. Writs should be filed promptly: delay is itself a ground on which relief is refused.

Documents usually needed

• The notice or order under challenge, with the date and mode of service (download it from the e-filing portal)
• Returns of income, computation and acknowledgement for the years involved
• Form 26AS, the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary
• Audit report and books of account, if applicable
• All earlier replies and documents filed, and the record of any hearing
• Bank statements, sale deeds, loan papers or other evidence of the transaction that has been questioned
• For an appeal: the assessment order, notice of demand and proof of payment of tax on returned income

Frequently asked questions

The answers above describe the law in general terms as on the date of publication and may not reflect later amendments or judgments. They are not a substitute for advice on the facts of a particular case.