Letter drafting.bose

(The contents of this article are meant only for training purpose and do not reflect the official views of the Income Tax Department or Government of India)

Basics of Letter

Appearance

Upon receiving a handsomely spaced, well-constructed, and well-organized letter, a assessee unconsciously assumes it has come from an up-to-date, well-organized, and successful person.

Basics of Letter

A good letter is good advertising

Letter writing occupies at least one-third of all office work, and good writing is the most effective advertisement of your capability. Any skills you can acquire or improve in this area help you work more quickly and effectively while advancing your career.

Basics of Letter

Correspondence and the Deptt.’s image

The way in which a Department is known to outsider, its good name, its reputation, and the quality of its officers & staff, services all comprise the Department’s image. Image is very important, and pride, prestige and peoples responses depends on this.

Basics of Letter

Department's style

Every department has its style of writing letter.

It has been accepted after long expriment.

You being new is required to follow the style.

Parts of letters

Heading

It should contain full office address

It should contain PIN

It should contain Phone Number

Parts of letters

File No. and date

Full and correct file No. is require for any future reference. It should be ensured that letter is issued form the file on relevant subject.

Parts of letters

Special mailing notations  

Special notations such as "confidential" should appear top of the letter and should be clearly visible.

Parts of letters

Inside address  

Includes addressee's title and full name, business title, business name, and full address.

In all correspondence to assessee the PAN should be quoted properly

Parts of letters

Attention line 

 If the letter is not addressed to any specific person, skip one space after the inside address and add, "Attention: —— ." You can make the letter go to the attention department easily.

Parts of letters

Salutation  

One line after the attention line

Sir/Madam, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Sir or Madam, Dear Sirs (company, Firm etc.)

Parts of letters

Subject line

   Gives an overview of what the letter is about.

In a office, letter moves different tables

It save times if subject is clear and specific.

Parts of letters

Message  The body of your letter with paragraph breaks, optional indentions for paragraphs, bullet lists, and number lists. With the body of the letter, first consider its appearance. The body of the letter should be brief and straightforward. It should bring out the facts clearly and should be able to convey your massage clearly.There should not be repetition and it should not be unnecessarily lengthy

Parts of letters

Complimentary closeWhen the salutation has been Sir or Respected Sir, the complimentary closing should be Yours faithfully. When the salutation has been Dear Sir or My Dear Sir, the complimentary closing can be Yours truly or Very truly yours; no personal connection exists between the writer and the recipient.Sincerely or Sincerely yours is appropriate when there is an established personal as well as a Departmental relationship.

Parts of letters

The signature

If in the body of the letter the writer has referred to "we," "us," or "ours," the office, and not an individual, is writing the letter. Consequently the signature would then consist of the typed name of the officer and his designation under the complimentary close.

Enclosures – Mention No. of enclosures

Some important spaceman of letter/Notice

• Notice u/s 142(1)

• Notice u/s 143(2)

• Notice u/s 148

• Notice u/s 156

• Letter for out standing demand

• Letter – calling for information

• Letter for defective return

• Letter for refixation

• Notice u/s 154

• Assessment order

NOTE & ORDER SHEET

NOTE SHEET –- BRIEF ON THE SUBJECT - WITH THE OPINION & SIGNATURE.

ORDER SHEET – – ONLY THE GIST OF THE ACTION – REASONS FOR THE ACTION– GIST OF DISCUSSION– WRITTEN BY A.O. / ON BEHALF OF A.O.– ETC..

ORDER SHEETORDER SHEET IS THE MIRROR OF THE FILESITUATIONS WHERE PROBLEMS CAN ARISE AT A FUTURE DATECARELESS ENTRIESSKETCHY NOTESNOT OBTAINING SIGNATURES OF ASSESSEE/AR AT THE TIME OF HEARINGNON-RECORDING OF NON-PRODUCTION OF RELEVANT DETAILSNOT CONFRONTING FACTS TO AR

ORDER SHEETREASONS U/S 148IN ONE OF THE CASES BY LOOKING AT ORDER SHEET, ITAT FOUND THAT PENALTY IS INITIATED LONG AFTER ASST WAS DONEORDER SHEET IS CONTEMPORANEOUS RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS – ASSUMES EVIDENTIARY VALUEOVER WRITINGS AND INTERPOLATIONS TO BE AVOIDEDDATE WISE (CHRONOLOGICAL) RECORD OF EVENTS TO BE MADE

ORDER SHEETEACH ENTRY TO BEAR A CONSECUTIVE SERIAL NUMBER - SERIAL NUMBERING OF THE PAGES OF THE ORDER SHEETTO ENSURE COMPLETENESS AND CONTINUITY OF PROCEEDINGSNOTING OF EVERY ORDER/HEARING THAT HAS BEARING ON THE PROCEEDINGSTENDENCY OF AUDITORS TO SIGN ON THE EDGE OF THE PAGE ?UNNECESSARY WRITING AND UNWANTED WRITINGS TO BE AVOIDED SO THAT EXTERNAL AGENCIES (SAY LITIGANT ASSESSEES/AUDIT PARTY) CAN’T DRAW UNREASONABLE CONCLUSIONS

PRECIS WRITING

• A precis is a short summary

• A precis should reduce the length of the original passage by at least two - thirds.

• A precis gives only the "heart" of a passage.

• It omits repetition and such details as examples, illustrations, and adjectives unless they are of unusual importance.

• A precis is written entirely in the words of the person writing it, not in the words of the original selection.

• Avoid the temptation to lift long phrases and whole sentences from the original.

• A precis is written from the point of view of the author whose work is being summarized.

• Do not begin with such expressions as "This author says" or "The paragraph means." Begin as though you were summarizing your own writing.

PRECIS WRITING

• Every important idea must be retained, preferably in the order in which it appears in the original. 

• Unimportant points, including details, illustrations and anecdotes, should be discarded. 

• A first draft of the precis should be written, then checked to see that it contains the main ideas of the passage. 

PRECIS WRITING

• Although you should be as brief as possible. Guard against being so condensed that you obscure the point of passage. 

• Try to capture the tone or feeling of the original, particularly if it is deliberately humorous, ironic or biased. 

• Check the draft for expression errors, repetition or vague phrasing;

• Give a name

• Then write a smoother final version. 

PRECIS WRITING