As per the Income Tax Act, every payer/deductor who deducts/collects TDS/TCS has to be filing their TDS or TCS return. The following deductors are required to file TDS/TCS return quarterly if they have deducted any TDS from the payment made.
- Corporate/ Company
- Government Offices
- Individuals if covered under section 44AB (mandatory audit)
It is mandatory to file quarterly TDS/TCS return within prescribed due dates. If a return is not filed within due dates then the deductor/collector will be liable to pay penalty for the late filing of return.
What is TDS Return?
TDS Return is also known as TDS Statement. It is a summary of all the transactions related to TDS made during a quarter of a financial year. It needs to be submitted to the income tax department quarterly before the due date. TDS return contains details of TDS deducted and deposited by a deductor. TDS return has basic details of deductors and deductees like PAN, TAN, etc, TDS Challan information, deduction details, and other information as required by the government.
What are the different types of TDS Returns?
Following are the different types of TDS and TCS Return to be filed by the deductor based on nature of payment:
| TDS Return | Nature of Payment |
| Form 24Q | TDS deducted on Salary Payments |
| Form 26Q | TDS deducted on Payments Other than Salary |
| Form 27Q | TDS deducted on NRI Payments other than Salary |
| Form 27EQ | TCS on Income |
Who is required to e-file TDS return?
Following deductors are required to compulsorily e-file their TDS Return:
- All Government Offices
- All companies
- Every person who is required to get his accounts audited
- Any other deductor, where the number of deductees records in a return for any quarter of the financial year are 20 or more.
TDS Return Filing Due Dates
TDS/TCS Return needs to be filed on quarterly basis. Following are the due dates for the same:
| Quarter | Quarter Period | Due Date |
| Q1 | April – June | 31st July |
| Q2 | July – September | 31st October |
| Q3 | October – December | 31st January |
| Q4 | January – March | 31st May |
FAQs
All the deductors/payers who deduct TDS/TCS need to file the return. Following are the two ways to file TDS/TCS Return online:
1. Using Return Preparation Utility (RPU) from TIN NSDL
-Go to TIN NSDL,
-Go to Services > e-TDS/e-TCS,
-Click on e-TDS/e-TCS RPU and download the latest version of RPU,
-Open the RPU and start preparing TDS Return.
2. Using Online Softwares like Quicko TDS
TDS Return filing is mandatory if TDS has been deducted by the deductor in a particular quarter. However, it is not mandatory to file TDS Return if no TDS has been deducted by the deductor. In this case, the deductor should file a declaration of non-filing of the TDS statement with TRACES to avoid future notice from the IT Department.
The payer/deductor needs to deduct TDS/TCS before making payment to a payee. TDS needs to be deducted at a prescribed rate as per the applicable Income Tax Section. Following are the entities who need to deduct TDS:
Company
Branch / Division of Company
Individual/HUF
Firm
Association of Person (AOP)
Association of Person (Trust)
Artificial Juridical Person
Body of Individuals
Government Bodies
Hey @ViraajAhuja47
TDS and TCS both come under Income Tax.
TDS: Tax Deducted at Source
TDS is a taxation method, where a person making a payment of specific nature is liable to deduct tax and deposit it with the government.
The rate at which TDS is deducted and paid is based on the specified based on nature of the payment.
The person making the payment is required to make deduct and deposit the TDS.
TCS: Tax Collected at Source
TCS is collected by the seller from the buyer at the time of sale made. Sellers selling any specified item are liable to collect tax at a predefined rate from the buyer the time of making a sale. This TCS collected has to be deposited by the seller with the government.
Hope this helps!