Income tax for MSME owners: ITR filing, slabs and regimes, presumptive taxation, TDS, advance tax due dates and the move to the Income-tax Act, 2025.
A notice under section 139(9) says your income-tax return is defective and gives you 15 days from the intimation to fix it. What counts as a defect, how to answer on the e-filing portal (Agree and upload a corrected return, or Disagree with reasons), how to ask for more time, and what happens if the return is treated as invalid.
From 1 April 2026 the quarterly TDS statements are Forms 138 (salary), 140 (other residents) and 144 (non-residents), the TCS statement is Form 143, and all four are due 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May. The TCS date moved from the 15th to the 31st. Certificates are Forms 130, 131 and 133, and from 1 October 2026 an individual buying property files Form 141.
What a notice of demand under section 156 of the Income-tax Act 1961 requires: thirty days to pay, 1% monthly interest under section 220(2), extension, instalment and stay requests, set-off of refunds under section 245, the appeal windows before the CIT(A)/JCIT(A) and the Tribunal, and the penalty show-cause under section 274.
What an intimation under section 143(1), a proposed adjustment under 143(1)(a), a scrutiny notice under 143(2), an inquiry notice under 142(1) and a defective-return notice under 139(9) mean, the 30-day and 15-day windows, how e-Proceedings and adjournments work, and where the DIN rule stands after CBDT Circular 4/2026.
What a show-cause notice under section 148A and a reassessment notice under section 148 of the Income-tax Act 1961 require, the three-year and five-year limits under section 149, the ₹50 lakh test, the 30-day floor added by the Finance Act 2026, the updated-return route and what happens if you do not reply.
Tax audit applies above ₹1 crore turnover, or ₹10 crore when cash receipts and payments are each within 5%, and above ₹50 lakh for professionals. The rules for FY 2025-26 under section 44AB and from tax year 2026-27 under section 63, the forms and the due dates.
The Income-tax Act 2025 took over from 1 April 2026. What the tax year is, which old sections became which new ones, and what changed for presumptive tax, tax audit, TDS and the 45-day MSME payment rule.
Pay a micro or small supplier late and you lose the deduction until the year you pay. The MSMED Act time limits (15 days, or up to 45 days by written agreement), the interest, and section 37(2)(g) of the Income-tax Act 2025 that replaced section 43B(h).
From 1 April 2026 TDS falls under sections 392 and 393 of the Income-tax Act 2025. The payments a small business meets, the thresholds and rates, the new form numbers, the deposit and statement dates, and what a missed deduction costs.
Four instalments — 15 June, 15 September, 15 December and 15 March — or one by 15 March if you use presumptive taxation. Who must pay under the Income-tax Act 2025, how to estimate, and what a missed instalment costs.
The TDS rules that applied to payments up to 31 March 2026 under the Income-tax Act 1961: sections 194C, 194H, 194-I, 194J, 194Q and more, with the thresholds raised from 1 April 2025. For payments from 1 April 2026, see the tax year 2026-27 guide.
Declare 6% or 8% of turnover, or 50% of professional receipts, as income and skip books and audit. The section 58 limits for tax year 2026-27, who qualifies, the five-year lock-in and how it maps to the old 44AD, 44ADA and 44AE.
These articles explain income tax for MSME owners as the Income-tax Act and the Income Tax Department’s notifications set it out, including the move to the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Each article lists its sources with links and shows when it was published or last updated. Articles explain the rules in general and are not advice for your business: check the source, or ask our expert team, before you act.