A Section 133(6) notice under the Income-tax Act, 1961 is a formal statutory communication through which an Income Tax Authority calls upon any person — whether the assessee, a third party, a bank, a registrar, a broker, a tenant, a buyer, a seller, a contractor, a business associate, or any entity otherwise connected with a transaction — to furnish specified information or documents useful or relevant for the purposes of the Act. Unlike Section 143(2) scrutiny, which is addressed only to the taxpayer whose return is under examination, a Section 133(6) notice is a wide-ranging evidence-gathering tool — it can go to anyone the department believes holds facts material to a case, and it is increasingly the backbone of the Risk Management Strategy, the e-Verification Scheme, 2021, and the pre-notice data-building exercises that precede Section 148A(b) reassessment show-causes and Section 143(2) scrutiny selections. For a recipient, therefore, a Section 133(6) notice is far more than a routine document call — it is often the first visible signal that the department is building a case, and every word of the response gets recorded, analysed, and used.

The statutory power flows from Section 133 read with Section 133(6). Section 133(6) specifically authorises the Assessing Officer, Deputy Commissioner (Appeals), Joint Commissioner, Commissioner (Appeals), Commissioner, Principal Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, Principal Chief Commissioner, or any designated Prescribed Income-tax Authority / Director-General / Director under Rule 112D, to require any person — including banking companies, officers of the State / Central Government, insurance companies, mutual funds, co-operative societies, educational institutions, hospitals, and every other entity — to furnish specified information in such form as the authority may specify. The notice can be issued even in situations where no proceeding is pending against the addressee, provided the information is useful for or relevant to any inquiry or proceeding under the Act. Information commonly sought includes — copies of agreements, bank statements, purchase / sale deeds, rental income data, shareholding details, transaction particulars, confirmation of balances, details of third-party transactions, and records under Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) obligations under Section 285BA.

Our Section 133(6) Notice Response Services cover the full response lifecycle — reviewing the notice to identify the authority, the nature of information sought, the underlying relevance, and the deadline; assessing whether the addressee is being asked about their own affairs (recipient as taxpayer) or as a third party (recipient as witness / custodian); building a complete, accurate, and carefully-worded response with supporting documentary evidence; verifying that the information we provide aligns with AIS / 26AS / our own ITR / books where applicable (to prevent creating unintended mismatches for ourselves or the counter-party); responding through the e-filing portal's Compliance / e-Verification module (where applicable) or by email / hard copy as directed; drafting adjournment requests where time is genuinely short; defending against Section 272A(2)(c) penalty (Rs. 500 per day) for failure to comply; managing follow-up queries, cross-verifications, and onward Section 143(2) / 148A(b) / 147 consequences; and — where the notice is jurisdictionally flawed, over-broad, or issued without specifying any connection to a proceeding — advising on limited compliance, privilege claims, and, in extreme cases, writ challenge before the High Court.