TDS means Tax Deducted at Source. It is the amount deducted from payments of various kinds such as salary, contract payment, commission, etc. This deducted amount can be adjusted against the tax due to the deductee.

It is the duty of the person who is making payment to someone for specified goods or services to deduct TDS and file a TDS return. The specified payment includes salary, interest, commission, brokerage, professional fees, royalty, contract payments, etc. The person who deducts TDS is called deductor and the person whose tax is being deducted is called deductee. TDS is not required to be deducted by Individuals and HUF except for those whose accounts are required to be audited u/s 44AB i.e. whose gross receipts in the preceding financial year in case of business is more than 2 crore (AY 2017-2018) or 1 crore ( AY 2016-2017) and in case of the profession 50 lakhs ( AY 2017-2018) or 25 lakhs (AY 2016-2017).

TAN is an alphanumeric 10 digit number required by a person who is liable to deduct TDS and file TDS return. Thus such a person must make an application within a month of deducting TDS for allotment of Tax Deduction and Collection Number (TAN) in Form 49B. This number allotted is mandatory to mention in all TDS Certificates issued, returns, challans, etc. If a person fails to apply for TAN he may be penalized up to Rs. 10,000/-.

Different types of TDS forms are as follows:- Form 24Q -TDS on Salaries Form 26Q – TDS on payments other than Salaries Form 27Q – TDS on payments made to Non-Residents Form 27EQ – TCS

PAN of the deductor has to be given by Non-Government deductors. It is essential to quote the PAN of all deductees.

Due dates of submission of quarterly TDS Return is 31st July for Q1, 31st October for Q2, 31st January for Q3, and 31st May for the last quarter.

The following table gives the types of payments, threshold limits, and the rates at which TDS is to be deducted.

Section	Particulars	TDS Rates in %	Threshold limits
192	Salary	As per the rates of Income Slab	As per the rates of Income Slab
192A	Payment of accumulated balance of provident fund which is taxable in the hands of an employee	10	–
193	Interest on securities
	a) Interest on Securities	10	Nil
	b) Interest on Debentures;	10	Nil
194	Dividend (other than the listed companies)	10	Nil
194A	Income by way of interest other than interest on securities	10	Rs. 5,000
194B	Winnings from lotteries/ puzzles/card games.	30	Rs. 10,000
194BB	Income by way of Winnings from horse races	30	Rs. 5,000
194C	Payment to contractor/sub- contractor a) HUF/Individuals b) Others	1 2	Rs. 30,000
194D	Insurance commission	5	Rs. 20,000
194DA	Payment in respect of life insurance policy	1	–
194EE	Payment of NSS Deposits	10	Rs. 2,500
194F	Payment on account of repurchase of unit by Mutual Fund or Unit trust of India	20	Nil
194G	Commission on sale of lottery tickets	5	Rs. 1,000
194H	Commission or brokerage	5	Rs. 5,000
194-I	Rent a) Plant & Machineryb) Land or building or furniture or fitting	2 10	Rs. 1.8 lakhs
194-IA	Payment on transfer of certain immovable property other than agricultural land	1	–
194-IB	Payment of rent by individual or HUF not liable to tax audit	5	–
194-IC	Payment of monetary consideration under Joint Development Agreements	10	–
194J	Any sum paid by way of Fee for professional services Fee for technical services Royalty, Remuneration/fee/commission to a director or For not carrying out any activity in relation to any business For not sharing any know-how, patent, copyright etc.	10	Rs. 30,000
194LA	Payment of compensation on acquisition of certain immovable property	10	Rs. 1 lakh
194LBA	Income distribution by a Business Trust u/s 115UA	10	–
194LBB	Income distribution by a Investment Fund u/s 115UB	10	–
194LBC	Income distribution by a Securitisation Trust u/s 115TCA	25% in case of Individual or HUF 30% in case of other individual	–
	Any other Income	10	–

Payment can be made online on NSDL by selecting Challan 281 and making the payment using net banking. These TDS payments need to be made before filing the TDS return. E-payment is compulsory for all Corporate assesses & non-corporate assessees who are liable for audit u/s 44AB. Physical payment can be made using Challan 281 in the authorized bank branch.

Every person deducting tax as per provisions of section 203 is required to issue a certificate to the payee in respect of tax deducted by him along with certain other particulars. This certificate is called TDS Certificate. Even banks deducting TDS on pensions issue TDS certificates. Types of TDS certificate to be issued in different cases:
Salaries: Certificate is to be issued in Form 16 containing details of TDS Payment, tax deducted at source, and tax calculation based on which TDS was estimated. The certificate should be issued within 31st May of the next financial year.
Non Salary Payments:Certificate is to be issued in Form 16A containing details of payment and tax deducted at source. The certificate should be issued within 15 days of the due date of filing the return.
TCS:Certificate to be issued in Form 27D containing the Tax Collected & Paid details. Failure to issue a certificate will result in a penalty of Rs. 100 for every day the failure continues but limited to the TDS amount.

Once tax is deducted the deductor should deposit the tax deducted with Central Government within time limit specified in the table below :

Type of Deductor	Payments made between April – Feb	Payments made in March
Government	Without Challan: Same day With Challan: On or before 7th of next month	Without Challan: Same day With Challan: On or before 7th of next month
Other than Government	On or before 7th of next month	On or before 30th April
Other than Government (payment u/s 194IA)	On or before 30th of next month	On or before 30th of next month

It is a document that serves as an annexure to the intimation to be sent to the deductor. Intimation will be sent to the deductor through mail/post but a justification report will have to be downloaded from the portal.