TRACES is the online portal for filing TDS Returns, correction of TDS Returns and downloading TDS documents. Section 197 of the Income Tax Act provides the benefit to deduct tax at nil rate or lower rate. Below is the process to download certificate u/s 197 for Section 194M from FY 2019-20 onwards.
- Deductee applies for the certificate by filing Form 13 with the Assessing Officer
- The Assessing Officer approves the application
- Deductee submits the certificate to the deductor
- Deductor submits the certificate details and validates the certificate before filing TDS Return
- Deductor can download the certificate from his account on TRACES after login as a Taxpayer on TRACES


Process to download TDS Certificate u/s 197 for TDS u/s 194M
- Log in to TRACES
- Navigate to Download 197 certificate for section 194M
Go to Downloads > Download 197 Certificate for Section 194M
- Details of the certificate
Enter Financial Year and Deductee PAN. Click on ‘Proceed‘. The details of the certificate will appear on the screen
- View/Download the certificate
Click on the hyperlink ‘Download / View Certificate‘ to view or download the certificate

FAQs
As per the Income Tax Act, there is no specified deadline to submit application u/s197. However, it is advisable to make an application at the beginning of the financial year so that the TDS Return is filed with correct calculations.
Certificate u/s 197 issued for a financial year is valid from the date of issue up to the end of the financial year. However, if it is cancelled by the Assessing Officer before its expiry, it is considered to be invalid
1. An individual or HUF, who has to make payment to a resident for a contract work completed or any professional service provided, will have to deduct tax at source u/s 194M
2. As per the Union Budget 2019, any individual/HUF paying any sum to a resident, for carrying out any work (including the supply of labor) under any contract or by way of fees for professional services rendered during the financial year, exceeding INR 50,00,000 in a year will have to deduct TDS at the rate of 5%
Hey @HarishMehta
Taxpayers or deductee cannot directly download form 16/form16A, the option to download Form 16/ 16A has been given to the Deductor. So, if you need Form 16 / 16A for TDS deducted by your current or previous employer or deductor you will have to contact them for the same. There is no option available on TRACES whereby you can download it yourself.
Hope this helps!
Hey @Dia_malhotra
Yes, individuals can still register as a taxpayer on TRACES even if they do not have TAN of the deductor by providing:
• Assessment Year
• Challan Serial Number and
• Amount of tax you have paid
Hope this helps!
In my Justification Report it shows an interest payable error whereas I’ve already paid the interest for that particular month According to the regulations what could be the reason for this?
Hi @saad,
According to regulations, interest payment default/errors may arise due to error in challan details , short deduction, short payment, late deposit of TDS amount. Here, you can file correction statement and revise the return.
Hope this helps!
Hi
I am not able to register the DSC despite many trials. I keep getting the error:
‘Error in establishing connection with TRACES Websocket Esigner. Please ensure that WebSigner Setup is installed and service is running on your machine and there are no proxies enabled on the browser while doing DSC activities’
Could you kindly help. I have tried all the instructions, as per below:
I have un-installed any previous versions of Java and emsigner.
I have installed Java 8, update 162 and 32 bit version on my Windows 10 machine
Downloaded TRACES-WebSigner-V2.0 and installed emsigner. The emsigner is running on my system.
Google Chrome is up to date. (Version 92.0.4515.131)
I have the DSC driver (e-pass 2003) installed.
I have rebooted and made sure the websigner (emsigner) is running.
When I go to my profile → Signature section, no window pops up, nothing loads, and if I click on ‘Request DSC’, I get the above error.
Could you point to me what I can do to make this work please. Do I need any physical device to generate tokens? I am logging in from the nri traces webpage. Thanks.
Preetham
@AkashJhaveri @Saad_C @Kaushal_Soni @Divya_Singhvi @Laxmi_Navlani can you help with this?
Hey @raopreetham, the first thing I would recommend you to do is to run the Emsigner as an administrator. Also, if it still does not seem to work, install the below mentioned JAVA fixer software and run it as an administrator and hopefully this would resolve your issue.
https://johann.loefflmann.net/downloads/jarfix.exe
The USB e-pass 2003 token device is particular type of a DSC.
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