Bangalore: Getting a notice from the Income Tax (IT) Department is the nightmare of every salaried person. Apart from the obvious fear of the law and related consequences, comes the added shame of facing the society. This might be a notice of clarification by the Assessing Officer (AO) or a scheduled enquiry. As the IT department can send notices for varied reasons, panicking unnecessarily over the notice is ill-advised. So, one must remain calm and follow certain procedures in case one gets a notice from the IT department. Minal Agarwal Jain, of The Economic Times, lists 7 must do’s on receiving a notice from the IT department –

1) Conserve the Envelope

Conserving the envelope containing the IT notice is the first and the foremost step in this case. Safekeeping this envelope has many benefits. Firstly, the details of the courier or mail service provider are present on the envelope. In case of late deliveries or discrepancies, the service provider can be held liable. Secondly, this envelope can be used as proof in case the IT notice has been wrongfully sent to you. So, preserving the envelope is advised.