ITR

Checking outstanding demand before filing your return

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Find

Outstanding demands for your PAN are listed under Pending Actions > Response to Outstanding Demand. Checking before filing lets you clear or dispute them before your new refund is caught.

Provisions

Sec 245, Income-tax Act 1961 (now Sec 438, Income-tax Act 2025); Sec 156, Income-tax Act 1961 (now Sec 289, Income-tax Act 2025)

Analysis

Clearing doubtful demands early means your next refund is not held up. Example: a salaried person expecting a ₹28,000 refund finds an AY 2017-18 demand of ₹4,200 from a processing error. Filing a rectification now can clear it before the new refund is processed. If the demand is genuine, paying it directly avoids interest under Sec 220(2) building up.

Close

  1. Log in and open Response to Outstanding Demand
  2. List each demand by year, section and amount
  3. Pay genuine ones through e-Pay Tax
  4. Dispute or rectify wrong ones before filing
  5. Recheck after a few weeks

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