TDS Certificate – Introduction
Any person who is engaged in the deduction of TDS is required to issue a TDS certificate. As per Section 203 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 it is mandatory for all deductors to deduct TDS.
After deducting and depositing the TDS by the due date in the Government account, the Deductor has to issue relevant certificates: Form 16, Form 16A, Form 16B, and Form 16C. These certificates are called TDS certificates.
Make a note that, to deduct TDS, deductors must have TAN. Presently, TAN Number is allotted by Income Tax Department along with company registration automatically.
What is TDS certificate?
TDS certificates are required to be issued by a person (Deductor) deducting TDS to the person (Deductee) from whose income TDS was deducted.
In other words, a TDS certificate is issued by the Deductor of TDS to the Deductee.
Types of TDS Certificate
Specified TDS forms – Form 16, Form 16A, Form 16B, and Form 16C are the types of TDS certificates.
- Certificate of TDS on Payment of Salary income: FORM 16
- TDS Certificate on payment of non salary income: FORM 16A
- For TDS on sale of property: FORM 16B
- For TDS on Rent: FORM 16C
Form 16
Form 16 is a TDS certificate issued by employers to their employees. If any tax has been deducted from the salary paid to the employee, then the employer has to provide the detail of TDS deducted & deposited in Form 16.
Thus, in other words, we can say that Form 16 is the Salary TDS Certificate which contains all the details required to prepare your ITR and file them. Employers are required to issue Form No 16 to their employees every year by the 15th of June of the following year.
Form16 has two parts – Part A and Part B. Part A of Form 16 to be generated and downloaded by employers from the TRACES portal.
Form 16A
Form No. 16A is a TDS Certificate issued in case of TDS on payment of non-salary income. Form 16A certifies the amount of TDS, Nature of Payments, and the TDS Payments deposited with the Income Tax Department.
Form No.16A is issued in case of payment of non-salary income. TDS Professional fees, Rent, Bank Interest payments are accompanied by a Form 16A.
Form 16B
Form 16B is a TDS Certificate that certifies how much amount of TDS is deducted during a property purchase.
The buyer of the property is required to issue Form 16B to the Seller of the property in respect of the TDS deducted and deposited with the government. TDS is required to be deducted under section 194IB.
Recommended Read: TDS on Rent of Property – Section 194IB
Due Date for Issuing TDS Certificate
Due Date for Form 16
TDS certificate – Form No.16 must be issued by the employer to employees within 15 days of filing their fourth-quarter TDS returns. Hence, Form 16 must be issued within 15 days of filing the fourth quarter TDS returns, i.e., before before15th June.
Due Date for Form 16A, Form 16B & Form 16C
| TDS Form | Certificate Of | Due Date |
| Form No. 16A | TDS on non-salary Payments | 15 days from the due date of filing of TDS return |
| Form No.16B | TDS on Sale/transfer of Immovable property | 15 days from the due date of filing of TDS return |
| Form No.16C | TDS on Payment of Rent U/s 194-IB | 15 days from the due date of filing of TDS return |
TDS Certificates downloaded only from TRACES are Valid
Dear Taxpayer, make sure that the TDS certificates issued to you are downloaded from the TRACES portal only. TDS Certificates downloaded only from TRACES are valid. CBDT has prescribed a specific format of certificates generated and downloaded from TRACES.
Certificates downloaded from TRACES Portal bear a unique certificate number (7 character alphabet) along with a TDS- CPS logo on the left side and a national emblem on the right side at the top.
TRACES: TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System of the Income-tax department.
All TDS Deductor, please make a note that downloading TDS Certificates from the TRACES portal is mandatory.
In this regard, CBDT has issued a few circulars:
CBDT Circular 04/2013 dated 17.04.2013, Circular No. 01/2012 dated 09-04-2012 and Circular No. 03/2011 dated 13-05-2011 on the Issuance of TDS certificate in Form No. 16 and Form No. 16A.
Thus, it is mandatory for all deductors to issue the TDS certificates only after generating and downloading from the “TRACES Portal”.
Certificates issued other than the form or manner prescribed shall be non-compliant to the requirements of the Income Tax Act, relevant rules, and Circulars issued on this behalf from time to time.
URL of the TRACES Portal: http://www.tdscpc.gov.in