Got an e-Campaign alert on the Compliance Portal for non-filing or high-value transactions? Here is the response process

You open the Income Tax e-Filing portal to check a refund and instead find a red flag under Pending Actions: an e-Campaign alert telling you that for a given assessment year the department holds information you have not reconciled. This guide walks through exactly what that alert means, the statute that produced it, and the response you must file - with a worked tax computation on a Rs 14,00,000 salary - so the campaign closes without escalating into a notice.

The Scenario

A salaried reader earning Rs 11,00,000 in FY 2025-26 assumed no return was due because the tax worked out to zero after the Section 87A rebate. On 2 October 2026 an e-Campaign flag appeared on the Compliance Portal under the Non-Filing of Return category, alongside a High Value Transactions entry showing a Rs 12,00,000 mutual-fund purchase the department already held on record. The reader's first instinct - to ignore it - is the single most expensive mistake here, because the data behind the alert is reported to the department by third parties under statute, not guessed at.

The Compliance Portal is reached in four steps from the e-Filing portal: log in, open Dashboard, select Pending Actions, and choose Compliance Portal. You then select e-Campaign, review the count of active campaigns in each of the three categories, and click Proceed, at which point Single Sign On (SSO) carries you across to the Compliance Portal without a second login. The Income Tax Department's own user manual (verified 3 October 2026) confirms both the four-step path and the SSO transfer.

The three e-Campaign categories you will see are fixed: Significant Transactions, Non-Filing of Return, and High Value Transactions. A campaign in any one of them is a request for reconciliation, not an assessment or a demand. Treating it correctly within the window the portal gives you is what keeps the matter in the pre-assessment stage rather than converting it into a formal proceeding.

Statutory Answer

The high-value and significant-transaction data you are being asked about does not originate with the assessing officer. It is furnished to the department by banks, registrars, depositories, mutual funds and other reporting entities under Section 285BA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, titled "Obligation to furnish statement of financial transaction or reportable account." Sub-section (1) obliges an assessee, prescribed government officers, local authorities, registrars under the Registration Act 1908, the Reserve Bank of India, recognised stock exchanges, depositories and prescribed reporting financial institutions to report specified financial transactions, and sub-section (2) requires the statement to be furnished "within such time and in the form and manner, as may be prescribed." The prescribed form and manner sit in Rule 114E of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 - the Statement of Financial Transactions, or SFT.

That is why a Rs 12,00,000 mutual-fund investment surfaces on your Compliance Portal even if you never declared it: the fund house reported it under Rule 114E, and the figure flowed into your Annual Information Statement. The AIS and Form 26AS are the two documents you must open the moment an e-Campaign appears, because they show the department's version of your year.

The Non-Filing of Return category rests on a different provision. Section 139(1) of the Income-tax Act requires every person whose total income before Chapter VI-A deductions exceeds the basic exemption limit to file a return by the due date - normally 31 July following the financial year for a non-audit individual. The seventh proviso to Section 139(1) extends that duty to taxpayers below the exemption limit who nonetheless crossed specified thresholds, such as depositing over Rs 1 crore in current accounts or incurring foreign-travel spending above Rs 2,00,000 in the year. So a nil-tax position after the Rs 60,000 rebate under Section 87A does not by itself excuse you from filing - a point the department's non-filing campaign exists precisely to catch.

Worked Resolution

Take the reader's facts. A gross salary of Rs 11,00,000 in FY 2025-26, taxed under the default new regime, attracts the Rs 75,000 standard deduction, leaving taxable income of Rs 10,25,000. Applying the FY 2025-26 new-regime slabs:

Because taxable income of Rs 10,25,000 is at or below the Rs 12,00,000 threshold, the Section 87A rebate of up to Rs 60,000 wipes out the entire Rs 42,500, so the final liability is nil. The reader was right that no tax was payable - but wrong that no return was due. Gross total income of Rs 10,25,000 sits well above the basic exemption, so Section 139(1) still mandates a return, and the Rs 12,00,000 SFT transaction independently keeps the file on the department's radar. The income tax calculator reproduces this computation for any salary, and the old vs new regime comparison shows whether the old regime would have changed the filing position.

Now a second reader at Rs 14,00,000 gross, who did file but whose e-Campaign flags a significant transaction. Under the new regime the standard deduction of Rs 75,000 leaves Rs 13,25,000 taxable:

Here taxable income of Rs 13,25,000 exceeds the Rs 12,00,000 ceiling, so no Section 87A rebate is available and the full Rs 81,900 stands. If the campaign's transaction was already captured in this return, the response is simply to confirm it against the AIS; if the return omitted it, the reader may need an updated return under Section 139(8A). Our note on when you can discard an unverified ITR explains the narrower discard route that applies before verification.

The response itself happens on the Compliance Portal after the SSO transfer. For a Non-Filing campaign you either file the pending return and let the record update, or record on the portal that no return is due with the reason. For a High Value or Significant Transaction campaign you reconcile each line against your AIS - confirming the figure, flagging it as belonging to another PAN or year, marking a duplicate, or denying it where the reporting entity erred. Tax already deducted at source on the same income is visible in Form 26AS and should match your TDS records; the TDS calculator helps you check whether the deductor's figure is right before you confirm it.

FAQ

What happens if I ignore an e-Campaign alert on the Compliance Portal?

An unactioned campaign does not simply lapse. Because the underlying data is furnished under Section 285BA and sits in your AIS permanently, an unexplained Non-Filing or High Value flag for an assessment year can feed into the department's risk selection and escalate from a soft e-Campaign request to a formal proceeding. Responding within the portal's window is the low-cost way to close it - the campaign is a reconciliation request on 3 October 2026, not yet a demand.

I have nil tax after the Section 87A rebate. Do I still need to file a return?

Often yes. The Rs 60,000 rebate under Section 87A for FY 2025-26 reduces your tax to zero where taxable income is at or below Rs 12,00,000, but it does not remove the filing obligation. If your gross total income before deductions exceeds the basic exemption limit, Section 139(1) requires a return regardless of the nil liability, and the seventh proviso can require one even below that limit for high-value transactions.

The AIS shows a transaction I do not recognise. How do I respond?

Open the AIS and submit feedback against that specific line rather than ignoring it. You can confirm the information, mark that it relates to another PAN or another year, flag it as a duplicate of information shown elsewhere, or deny it outright if the reporting entity made an error. The corrected position then flows into your reconciliation, and you should retain the supporting document - a contract note or bank statement - in case it is queried later.

Is an e-Campaign the same as a notice under Section 142 or 148?

No. An e-Campaign under the Compliance Portal is a pre-assessment nudge inviting you to reconcile data the department already holds under Section 285BA. A notice under Section 142(1) or Section 148 is a statutory proceeding with its own deadlines and consequences. Clearing an e-Campaign promptly is one of the practical steps that reduces the chance of the matter progressing to a formal notice.

Which assessment year does my e-Campaign relate to?

The portal states the assessment year on each campaign card; always read it before responding, because the reconciliation must match that year's AIS and return. Understanding the assessment year versus the financial year matters here: FY 2025-26 income is assessed in AY 2026-27, so a campaign quoting AY 2025-26 concerns the income you earned in FY 2024-25.

Can I respond to the Compliance Portal through a tax professional?

Yes, through an authorised representative added on the e-Filing portal, but the SSO access to the Compliance Portal still runs through your registered e-Filing login. The four-step path - Dashboard, Pending Actions, Compliance Portal, e-Campaign - is identical whether you or an authorised user acts, and the response is logged against your PAN either way.

Will responding to an e-Campaign delay my refund?

An unreconciled High Value or Non-Filing flag can hold up processing, so clearing the campaign generally helps rather than hinders a tax refund. Once the department's data and your return agree, the refund proceeds through the normal cycle; if a mismatch remains in Form 26AS, resolve that first, because the refund is computed on the credits the department can see.