1. TDS certificates should be downloaded only from TRACES You should ensure that TDS certificates (Form
16/16A/Form16B/Form16C) issued to you are downloaded only from TRACES
(TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System of the
Income tax department). Certificates downloaded from TRACES are in a
specific format. A form downloaded from TRACES would bear a 7 character
alphabet unique certificate number and it will also have a TDS- CPS logo
on the left side and a national emblem on the right side at the top.
This certificate would provide the
details of the income paid to you and also the tax deducted from that
income by the payer and whether the same has been deposited by him with
the government. See below for a sample of how a valid TDS certificate in
Form 16 or Form 16A should look.
2. Digital signature should be verified In case of digitally signed certificates check
that the signature is verified i.e. has a check mark across it. An
unverified signature will bear a question mark over the signature
instead of the check mark.
3. Must check details on the TDS certificate Your name, PAN,
Deductor's TAN, amount paid to you, TDS amount should be correctly
reflected on the TDS certificate. The financial year and assessment year
for which tax is deducted is also reflected in the TDS certificate.
Many banks issue TDS certificates quarterly. In case of a quarterly TDS
certificate, the quarter for which the tax has been deducted would also
be mentioned.
4. What is Form26AS and how to get it An annual tax credit statement is generated by the income tax
department for a person subjected to TDS (deductee) in Form 26AS. The
statement provides details such as name of the deductee, PAN of
deductee, details of deductor, the TDS amount, the amount of TDS
deposited with the Government by the deductor etc.
The user can download the statement from the
income tax e-filing website. The downloaded statement is password
protected and the password to open the file is the Date of birth of the
user which he would have entered when registering with the income tax
e-filing site.
This statement is linked to your PAN and contains details of all your TDS -by employers as well as others (e.g. banks etc).
The link to download Form 26AS from TRACES can be found after logging into your account on the income tax e-filing site.
https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/e-Filing/UserLogin/LoginHome.html?nextPage=taxCred
It can also be downloaded via your net banking
account provided that your bank provides the e-filing login facility.
The list of banks providing this facility is available at:
http://contents.tdscpc.gov.in/en/netbanking.html
5. Cross check the TDS certificate figures with figures in Form 26AS You can verify whether your TDS -as shown in the TDS certificate
received from the deductor --has actually been received by the
government or not by comparing with your Form 26AS. It is the duty of a
taxpayer to verify whether the deductor has deducted tax on each
transaction on which it was supposed to be deducted. He must also check
that the TDS mentioned in form 16/16A is reflecting in Form 26AS.
In case the TDS shown in your TDS certificate
is not reflecting in your Form 26AS it would imply that although the
deductor has deducted the tax on your behalf but the TDS has not been
deposited / has not reached the income tax department. In case of any
discrepancy between the TDS certificates and Form 26AS inform your
deductor and ask for the reasons for this discrepancy and get it
corrected.
A possible reason behind the mismatch can be
because your PAN has been incorrectly entered in the records of the
deductor. In case the deductor has not deducted the tax on your behalf,
then it is your responsibility to remind the deductor to deduct tax on
your behalf and deposit the same with government.
Your form 26AS will also reflect any advance/regular/ self assessment tax that you pay.
Following details would also be available in your Form 26AS in case applicable:
Details of tax deducted on your behalf by deductors
Details of tax collected on your behalf by collectors
Details of tax deducted on sale of Immovable Property
Refund received during the financial year by you
Details of your transactions in Mutual Fund, Shares and Bonds, etc. (as reported by AIR filer)
TDS Defaults related to processing of Statements
A person deducting tax on account of buying an
immovable property needs to submit TDS certificate to the seller in Form
16B. According to practicing chartered accountants, the income tax
department normally cross checks the taxes claimed as TDS or as paid by
you in your return with those showing in Form 26AS. "Therefore, in case
certain taxes claimed as deducted or paid by you in your return are not
reflected in the Form 26AS then you may get a notice from the tax
department when it processes your return" says Chartered Accountant Anil
Kapur, Partner, AVAN & Associates.
6. Why you need TDS certificates when Form 26AS provides all information One can gather all information related to TDS in Form 26AS which is
sufficient to file one's return. This might make you doubt the
importance of TDS certificates but the rationale behind introducing Form
26AS is to enable the taxpayer to cross check the details mentioned in
his/her TDS certificates with those mentioned in Form 26AS and create
transparency. TDS certificates are important because these certificates
and the Form 26AS are a cross check for each other-in case there is a
mismatch you can try to get the relevant document corrected. Without the
TDS certificate you would not get to know if there was a mismatch.
Further, if your return sails through the IT
department's e-processing system without a hitch then your TDS
certificates may not be required to be shown/submitted but in case your
return gets picked up for scrutiny then you are likely to need your TDS
certificates to show to the IT department. Also, in case a TDS is not
reflecting in the Form 26AS then again you would need the certificate to
prove that tax was actually deducted.
"In case of salaried persons, Form 26AS in
itself is not sufficient to file the return since it does not show the
breakup of your income and details of deductions claimed under section
80C to 80U which are available in Form 16" Kapur adds.
7. Why you must provide PAN to the deductor It is the duty of the assessee/deductee to provide his PAN to the
deductor or else the deductor will deduct his tax at a higher rate
(generally 20%). Also, if PAN is not provided the TDS will not reflect
in your Form 26AS which is linked to your PAN. This is because the
deductor will not know which PAN to assign the TDS to while uploading
data in the income tax site.
8. It may take time for your TDS/tax paid details to reflect in Form 26AS Towards the end of the deadline for deductors to file their TDS
returns, there is a lot of TDS data being uploaded into Form 26AS and
consequently there may be a time lag of some days for your TDS or tax
paid by you to reflect in it . This happens due to the time taken to
update Form 26AS.
economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/tax/what-you-must-check-in-your-tds-certificates-form26as-why-they-should-match/articleshow/52762617.cms
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