The Indian Income Tax notice cascade, as a state machine: CPC Supreme Court (walkthrough for salaried filers)

The Income Tax Department has been issuing lakhs of Section 80GGC (political-party donation) scrutiny notices to salaried filers for AYs 2019-20 through 2022-23. If you claimed 80GGC in any of those years, there's a nonzero chance the notice arrives — and the single worst thing you can do is ignore it.

This post frames the Indian tax-scrutiny process the way a developer would find useful: as a state machine. 8 states, strict deadlines at every transition, and missing one edge type forfeits your appeal at that level.

The specific example is Section 80GGC because that's the current notice wave, but the cascade shape applies to any Chapter VI-A dispute.

The state machine

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