Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) falls under the ambit of the Indian Revenue Services i.e IRS. It is a form of tax which is collected by the Indian Government and is managed by the CBDT i.e. Central Board of Direct Taxes.

• When an assessee earns income, the person paying to the assessee will deduct the TDS and that will be submitted to the government. It is like an advance tax taken by the government on the income of a person. Under TDS, the tax is deducted by the person incurring the expenditure and not by the person receiving the income.
• The assessee will file the TDS return and whatever tax is calculated on his total income will be deducted and the final amount will either be a refund or a demand.
• Different items like Salaries, Interest income, commission, lottery winnings, Dividend, etc, all have different rates of TDS to be deducted on them. We can check the different rates for the different items in the following link. “https://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/charts tables/tds rates.htm”
• Some of the points to be kept in mind while deducting the TDS are:
  1. The person incurring the expenditure should have a valid PAN and he should also have the PAN of the person receiving the income. In case the PAN is not available, the rate of the TDS increases.
  2. The TDS rate has to be taken as per the relevant section provided in the Income Tax Act, 1961.
  3. TDS is exempted in the following 2 cases:
     – if the receiver gives a self-declaration saying that he had made the required investments in FORM 15G/15H-or there is a certificate of exemption given by the Assessing Officer.
  4. No TDS is to be deducted from any payment which is made to the Reserve Bank of India, the Indian Government, or any corporation by the central act.
• The TDS that has already been paid can be checked by downloading from 26AS from the site of the income tax department.
• The TDS will only be deducted if the threshold limit for the payment is crossed. For eg: If the interest from any bank doesn’t exceed Rs. 10,000 from a single bank in one year then there is no need to deduct the TDS or the salary of a person below the taxable limit.
• Some of the main items on which TDS is deducted are:
  1. Section 192- TDS on Salaries:
     TDS on salaries is deducted at the rate of the income tax slab for the relevant year. For the assessment year 2017-2018 the exemption limit for an individual is Rs 2,50,000.
  2. Section 194B- TDS on Winning from Lottery, crossword or any game:
     A TDS of 30% is deducted from any amount received by the way of lottery, crosswords or any other game if the amount exceeds Rs. 10,000. For eg- any amount won at a game show will be liable to a deduction at the rate of 30% TDS.
  3. Section 193- TDS on Interest on Securities:
     A TDS of 10% is to be deducted on interest from securities received if the limit of Rs. 5000 on debentures and 10,000 on others is crossed.
  4. Section 194– TDS on deemed dividend:
     There is a 10% TDS deduction rate on income from dividend (definition given under section 2(22) (e)) if the limit of Rs. 10,000 is crossed.
  5. Section 194EE- TDS on withdrawal of National Savings Scheme:
     There is a 20% TDS deduction on any withdrawal from the NSS if the limit exceeds RS. 2500.
  6. Section 194I– TDS on rent:
     There is a rate of 2% on Plant and Machinery and 10% on Land and Building if the limit exceeds Rs. 1,80,000 per annum.
• The due date to pay the TDS is the 7th of every succeeding month and a return has to be filed quarterly by the following dates. For the financial year 2017-2018 the due dates are:
  1st Quarter – 31st July 20172nd Quarter – 31st October 20173rd Quarter – 31st January 20184th Quarter – 31st April 2018
• The TDS certificate will be given in:
  Form 16- for the people receiving the salaryForm 16A- for the people receiving income from any other sourceForm 16B- TDS on sale of any immovable property
• For the late filing of TDS return, there is a penalty of Rs. 200 per day or the amount of TDS payable whichever is lower out of the two.