TDS Refund

Say, you live in a rented home with your family. You could not submit the required Section 80C investment proofs or rent receipts towards HRA (House Rent Allowance) on time when asked by your employer, which led to excess TDS deduction from your salary. In such a situation, you can claim a TDS refund.

Next to understand what TDS refund is, comes the TDS refund procedure to claim it.

a) If the actual tax payable does not equal the tax deducted at source, you need to calculate your income and taxes, file an Income Tax Return (ITR) [3]to claim TDS refund.

b) While filing the ITR online, you will need to provide the details of a bank account and its IFSC code. The Income Tax (IT) department will then use these details to give you a TDS refund.

Read more: TDS on Salary

a) When your income does not fall into a taxable income bracket, you need to submit a declaration in TDS refund form - Form 15G^[5] to your bank in which you have an FD before the end of every financial year.

b) This is done to notify the bank about your non-taxable income, because of which TDS should not be deducted on the FD interest income.

c) If your bank has deducted TDS on your FD interest, whether you have submitted TDS refund form or not, you can claim TDS refund by declaring it in your ITR. The IT Department will compute TDS refund and get it credited to your bank account.

Read More: TDS on Fixed Deposit

a) As per Income Tax Act, Indian citizens above the age of 60 years are exempt from a tax deduction on FD interest up to Rs. 50,000 annually^[6]

b) If you are above the age of 60, have FD accounts but no taxable income in any financial year (after claiming this deduction on FD interest), you need to fill and submit Form 15H to your bank

c) If the bank still deducts tax on the interest income you have earned with the FD(s), you can claim a TDS refund while filing the ITR

You can look into the TDS refund claim status in the following ways:

b) Use your PAN card number to check the TDS refund status on – https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/

c) Call CPC Bangalore on their toll-free number - 1800-4250-0025.

Read more: TDS Refund Status

As per Section 244A of the Income Tax Act^[7], you are entitled to get a simple interest of 6% per annum of the TDS refund amount if the IT department fails to pay you the applicable refund on time.

The interest on TDS refund accrues from the first month of the assessment year when you have filed the ITR within the due date.

Some other facts you must know about interest on TDS refund are:

a) You will not get it if it is less than 10% of the total income tax payable in a year

b) Interest on tax refund is also taxable, being considered an income from other sources

Many taxpayers leave tax planning needs to the end of a financial year and face last moment hassles. To prevent that from happening, you must plan your taxes in advance with the start of every financial year.

The IT department charges a penalty to the taxpayers in case they fail to pay the taxes within the due date. This penalty equals 1% per month of the tax due. You can avoid paying the fine by remembering to pay the taxes on time always.

It is possible to avoid TDS refund-related hassles and delays by managing the taxes smartly. Make sure that TDS deducted equals the actual tax payable.

To save maximum tax, you must be aware of various tax exemptions rules and sections of the Income Tax Act. With this information, you will find it easier to know about the tax exemptions you can claim.