Reassessment Notice Issued to a Deceased Assessee Is Invalid

Reassessment Notice Issued to a Deceased Assessee Is Invalid and Matter Remanded for Fresh Notice to Legal Representatives.

Issue

Whether a reassessment notice issued under Section 148 in the name of a deceased assessee is valid, and whether the proceedings should be remanded to the Assessing Officer to issue a fresh notice to the legal representatives under Section 159.

Facts

Reassessment Initiation: The Income-tax Department initiated reassessment proceedings by issuing a notice under Section 148 / Section 280 in the name of an assessee who had already passed away.
Legal Framework: Under Section 159(2) of the Income-tax Act, 1961 / Section 302 of the Income-tax Act, 2025, if reassessment proceedings are initiated prior to the death of the assessee, they may be legally continued against the legal representatives.
Procedural Flaw: In the present case, the statutory notice initiating the proceedings was issued after the death of the assessee and addressed directly to the deceased individual rather than their legal representatives.

Decision

Continuation of Prior Proceedings: Held, yes. If reassessment proceedings had already been validly initiated prior to the death of the deceased assessee, they could be legally continued against the legal representatives under Section 159(2).
Remand for Fresh Notice: Held, yes. Where the notice under Section 148 was issued directly in the name of the deceased assessee, the proceedings are invalid in their current form, and the matter is remanded to the Assessing Officer to issue a fresh notice to the legal representatives in accordance with the law.

Key Takeaways

Notice to Deceased Voidable/Invalid: A statutory tax notice issued to a dead person is procedurally non-est; proceedings cannot be sustained unless properly issued to legal heirs.
Scope of Section 159: Section 159(2) protects ongoing proceedings initiated during the assessee’s lifetime, but fresh notices issued post-demise must strictly name the legal representative(s).
Curative Remand: Rather than terminating reassessment permanently on technical grounds, courts typically remand the matter to allow the Assessing Officer to cure the defect by issuing fresh notice to the legal representatives.

HIGH COURT OF MADRAS

Kandhasamy Amaravathy

Income-tax Officer

C.Saravanan, J.

W.P.(MD) No. 20203 of 2026
W.M.P.(MD) Nos. 14959 & 14960 of 2026

JULY 16, 2026

S.Sridhar for the Petitioner. J. Parekk Kumar, Sr. Standing Counsel for the Respondent.

ORDER

1. Mr.J.Parekk Kumar, learned senior standing counsel for Income Tax, takes notice for the respondents.

2. By consent, this writ petition is disposed of at the time of admission, after hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned senior standing counsel for the respondents.

3. The petitioner is before this Court as against the impugned notice issued by the first respondent bearing DIN and Notice No.ITBA/AST/S/148_1/2025-26/1088113881(1) dated 30.03.2026.

4. The writ petition has been filed by a legal representative of the deceased assessee, namely, Kandhasamy Amaravathy, who died on 24.12.2022. It is on the same date, return was also filed on behalf of the deceased assessee. Thereafter, a notice under Section 133(6) was issued in the name of the deceased assessee on 09.05.2025. The petitioner had responded to the same on 20.06.2025, wherein the details of the death of the deceased assessee has been informed to the respondents. Despite the same, the impugned notice has been issued in the name of the deceased assessee on 30.03.2026, which has been directly issued by invoking the machinery under Section 135A r/w Section 148 of the Act.

5. Section 159 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 contemplates situation as to how proceedings have to be continued in the case of a diseased assessee. Section 159 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, is reproduced below:-

“Legal representatives.

159. (1) Where a person dies, his legal representative shall be liable to pay any sum which the deceased would have been liable to pay if he had not died, in the like manner and to the same extent as the deceased.

(2) For the purpose of making an assessment (including an assessment, reassessment or recomputation under Section 147 of the income of the deceased and for the purpose of levying any sum in the hands of the legal representative in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (1),

(a) any proceeding taken against the deceased before his death shall be deemed to have been taken against the legal representative and may be continued against the legal representative from the stage at which it stood on the date of the death of the deceased ;

(b) any proceeding which could have been taken against the deceased if he had survived, may be taken against the legal representative ; and

(3) The legal representative of the deceased shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be an assessee.

(4) Every legal representative shall be personally liable for any tax payable by him in his capacity as legal representative if, while his liability for tax remains undischarged, he creates a charge on or disposes of or parts with any assets of the estate of the deceased, which are in, or may come into, his possession, but such liability shall be limited to the value of the asset so charged, disposed of or parted with.

(5) The provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 161, section 162 and section 167, shall, so far as may be and to the extent to which they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this section, apply in relation to a legal representative.

(6) The liability of a legal representative under this section shall, subject to the provisions of sub-section (4) and sub-section (5), be limited to the extent to which the estate is capable of meeting the liability.”

6 .If the proceedings had been initiated already before the death of the deceased assessee, the proceedings could have been continued in the name of the deceased assessee, in terms of Section 159(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Though sub-section 3 to Section 159 states that the legal representative of the deceased shall for the purpose of this Act be deemed to be an assessee.

7 .Since the notice has been issued in the name of the deceased assessee, I am inclined to remit the case back to the first respondent to issue a fresh notice in the name of the legal representatives of the deceased assessee.

8 .The time taken between the date of the impugned order and a period of one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this order shall stand excluded for the purpose of computation of limitation under Section 149 of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

9 .After a fresh notice is issued, the petitioner or the other legal representative, whose name is mentioned fresh notice, shall participate in the proceeding in accordance with law.

10 .The Writ Petition stands disposed of, accordingly. No costs. Consequently, connected Miscellaneous Petitions are closed.