An employer deducts TDS under Section 192 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, at the time of paying salary to an employee. TDS Form 24Q is to be filled by the employer for TDS deduction and submitted to the Income Tax Department on a quarterly basis. Details of the salary paid and the TDS deducted from it are reported in Form 24Q. All the companies and firms in India are required to make this declaration and payment on quarterly basis.
Annexure I of Form 24Q consists of details about the deductor, challans and deductees. Details of challan(s) mentioned include BSR code of branch, challan serial number, date of deposition of challan, TDS amount to be allocated among deductees, total amount in challan and interest amount to be allocated among deductees. Details of deductee(s) to be mentioned include employee reference number (if available), name of the employee, PAN of the employee, date of payment/ credit, TDS Section code, TDS amount, amount paid or credited and education cess. Annexure II mentions salary details like total breakup of the salary and deductions to be claimed by the employee. Annexure I is required to be filed on all four quarters of a financial year, while Annexure II has to be submitted only on the fourth quarter of every financial year.
The due dates for submission of Form 24Q are as under:
| Quarter | Due Date |
|---|---|
| Q1) April to June | 31st of July |
| Q2) July to September | 31st of October |
| Q3) October to December | 31st of January |
| Q4) January to March | 31st of May |
e-TDS/e-TCS return as per the file formats is to be prepared in clean text ASCII format, with 'txt' as filename extension. It can be prepared with the use of an in-house software, any other third-party software or the NSDL e-TDS Return Preparation Utility. Follow the link to view Form 24Q Format as approved by the Income Tax Department - tin-nsdl.com/downloads/e-tds/download/24Q_01042015.pdf
After the file has been created in accordance with the file format, it needs to be verified using the File Validation Utility (FVU) provided by NSDL e-Gov. Should there be any errors, the FVU shall give a report of the errors. Correct the errors and verify it again through the FVU. The file generated by the FVU following successful validation has to be furnished to a TIN-FC.
Penalty: In case TDS is not deducted by the due date, an interest of 1% per month will apply, starting from due date of deduction to actual deduction date. If TDS is not deposited, 1.5% interest per month becomes applicable from actual date of deduction to actual date of payment. Under Section 234E, a penalty of Rs. 200 per day is to be paid as late filing fees until the return is filed.
The form can be submitted online as well as submitted in person along with the necessary documents. However, for certain people, it is mandatory to submit the quarterly return online. That is if the deductor is:
A Government office
A company’s principal officer
Assessee has had its accounts audited for the previous year under 44AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
If the record of deductees in a statement is 20 or more during any quarter of a particular financial year.
Form 24Q and 26Q are nearly the same, except that the former is meant for declaration of TDS from income from salary, while the latter is used for declaration of TDS from sources other than salary. The TDS Sections covered in 24Q include 192A – Salary paid to government staff besides union government employees, 192B – Salary paid to non-government staff and 192C – Salary paid to union government staff.
The Sections covered in 26Q are:
| 194C | Payment made to contractor and subcontractor |
| 194D | Insurance commission |
| 194EE | Payment made in relation to deposit under national savings scheme |
| 194G | Commission, prize etc., on sale of lottery tickets |
| 194H | Commission or Brokerage |
| 194 | Dividend |
| 194F | Payments made for repurchasing mutual fund units |
| 194A | Interest besides interest on securities |
| 194B | Winnings from lotteries and crossword puzzles |
| 193 | Interest earned on securities |
| 194BB | Winnings from horse race |
| 194I(a) and 194I(b) | Rent |
| 194J | Fees for Professional or Technical Services |
| 194LA | Compensation payment on acquisition of certain property |
| 194IA | Payment for transfer of certain immovable property besides agricultural land 9IA |
| 194LBA | Certain income from units of a business trust |
| 194DA | Payment concerning life insurance policy |
| 194LBB | Income generated from units of investment fund |
| 194LBB | Income in respect of investment in securitization trust |
When is online return compulsory?
For certain people, it is mandatory to submit the quarterly return online. That is if the deductor is:
A Government office
A company’s principal officer
Assessee has had its accounts audited for the previous year under 44AB of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
If the record of deductees in a statement is 20 or more during any quarter of a particular financial year.
What are the due dates for submission of Form 24Q?
The due dates for submission of Form 24Q are as under:
| Quarter | Due Date |
|---|---|
| April to June | 31st July |
| July to September | 31st Oct |
| October to December | 31st Jan |
| January to March | 31st May |
What are the annexures found in Form 24Q?
Form 24Q is made up of two annexures – Annexure I and Annexure II.
Annexure I consists of details about the deductor, challans and deductees. Details of challan(s) mentioned include BSR code of branch, challan serial number, date of deposition of challan, TDS amount to be allocated among deductees, total amount in challan and interest amount to be allocated among deductees. Details of deductee(s) to be mentioned include employee reference number (if available), name of the employee, PAN of the employee, date of payment/ credit, TDS Section code, TDS amount, amount paid or credited and education cess. Annexure II mentions the salary details like total breakup of the salary and deductions to be claimed by the employee. Annexure I is required to be filed on all four quarters of a financial year, while Annexure II has to be submitted only on the fourth quarter of every financial year.
What is the Form 26Q?
Form 26Q is a quarterly TDS return required to be filled up in respect to payments made to residents other than salary.
Is there any interest and penalty for non or late filing of Form 24Q?
Yes, there is. Should the instance arise where the deductor has not deposited TDS by the due date, the following penalties are applicable:
Late filing fee (if TDS is not filed by the deadline)
Interest (if TDS amount is not deposited on time)
Penalty (if TDS has not filed within 1 year of the due date)
What is Form 27Q used for?
Form 27Q has to be filled up for declaration of TDS returns on non-resident payments. In other words, it contains details of TDS deducted for payments other than salary to NRI. Some of the payments covered under Form 27Q include income of foreign institutional investors from securities, income in respect of units of non-residents and investment income in securitization trust.
