Tax notice issued in a deceased taxpayer’s name? Know what legal heirs must do and whether they are liable to pay

Receiving an income-tax notice in the name of a family member who has died can leave legal heirs unsure about what to do. Should they respond to it, or is the notice automatically invalid because the taxpayer is no longer alive?

Tax experts say legal heirs should not simply ignore such notices. They should first establish their status as the deceased taxpayer’s legal representative, inform the Income Tax Department about the death and determine whether the notice relates to an existing proceeding or starts a fresh proceeding.

“Existing proceedings may be continued against the legal heirs of the deceased individual from the relevant stage. However, fresh proceedings need to be formally initiated against the legal heir by way of a separate notice in his/her name,” said Rohit Garg, Partner at Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.

The legal heir should formally inform the assessing officer about the taxpayer’s death and submit the death certificate, Garg said. The heir should also raise an objection on jurisdictional grounds if proceedings have been initiated against a deceased individual.

If not already done, the heir should register as the legal heir or representative assessee on the income-tax e-filing portal.

Tarun Garg, Partner at Deloitte India , said the legal heir should secure the death certificate, establish who the legal representative is and register as the deceased taxpayer’s representative without delay.

The heir can use their own login credentials to make the registration request. Once approved by the department, the heir can switch to the representative assessee role from the profile section.

This is important because the deceased taxpayer’s login cannot be used to respond to a notice after legal heir registration is approved, Tarun Garg said.

Rohit Garg said there is no statutory obligation on the legal heir to intimate the department about the taxpayer’s death. However, ignoring the notice could result in the department proceeding with a best-judgement assessment and creating a tax demand, with the possibility of a penalty.

Challenging such proceedings later may require approaching the relevant jurisdictional High Court, which could involve additional time and costs, he said.

Tarun Garg said the Income-tax Act, 2025 provides that a legal representative is liable to pay any amount that the deceased would have been liable to pay, in the same manner and to the same extent as the deceased.

He also pointed to Section 302(2), under which proceedings taken against a deceased taxpayer before death are deemed to have been taken against the legal representative and can continue from the stage at which they stood on the date of death.

Therefore, ignoring a notice could result in an ex-parte assessment against the heir as representative assessee, potentially exposing the estate to tax, interest and penalty, Tarun Garg said.

Legal heirs can use the “Register as Legal Heir/Representative Assessee” facility on the income-tax e-filing portal.