Income Tax Filing 2019: Claim TDS Credit Without Fail

If TDS (tax deducted at source) has been deducted on any income paid to you during the last FY, then don't forget to claim credit for the tax deducted at source (TDS) in your income tax return (ITR). Remember that just filling the TDS column in the ITR is not enough to get credit, you also need to fill the column 'TCS/TDS credit out of (5) being claimed this year in the ITR TDS schedule.

As per income tax rules, you should claim credit for TDS on income that is paid or accumulates to you in the same financial year as the TDS is deducted. Sometimes you may get income paid to you in advance (like advance rent in a lump sum) which may spread across more than one FY. If TDS is deducted on this advance payment, then the part of TDS which does not belong in the current FY have to be carried forward to the next FY when income is earned. The credit of TDS on any income can be claimed only in the FY in which the income is earned and not in the year in which it is has been received.

How to claim TDS credit?

The details need to be filled in the 'Tax details' section in the ITR-1 form, which is available online. If you are filing ITR 1 or ITR 2, using Excel form, then these details need to be filled in 'TDS and TCS' schedule of the tax return form.

In ITR-1 available online, in the 'tax details' section, the tax deposited against your PAN can be seen in five schedules:

a) Details of tax deducted at source (TDS) from salary (as per Form 16)

b) Details of TDS from income other than salary (as per Form 16A)

c) Details of TDS (as per Form 26QC furnished by the deductor)

d) Details of TCS (as per Form 27D issued by the collector)

e) Details of advance tax and self-assessment

In three out of the five schedules mentioned above, make sure that the last column in the ITR form is filled for claiming TDS credit.

You must check that all the TDS credits have been correctly pre-filled in the ITR form provided by the Income Tax Department. Abhishek Soni, CEO, Tax2win.in, an ITR filing website says, "In the pre-filled ITR forms, the tax credit available (TDS) to the tax-payer is automatically filled in the TDS schedule of the ITR from Form 26AS. However, if such information is not pre-filled, he/she has to fill the information in the ITR form using Form 26AS."

If you forget to claim the TDS credit, then while calculating your tax liability for FY 2018-19, such credit will not be considered, and you may end up paying additional tax from your pocket while filing ITR.

Be alert while filling tax details in ITR form?

Here there is assistance because it is likely that when you click on 'validate or calculate tax' in the ITR schedules (click on 'Validate or Calculate tax' on the right side of each filled schedule) then you receive a message asking you to fill any information that is compulsorily needed. So keep an eye for such a message and correct your ITR before filing.

If you forgot to claim the tax credit?

If you forgot to claim the tax credit, it wouldn't be carried forward for the next year automatically.

If ITR is already filed, then to claim the TDS credit, you need to file a revised return. Soni says, "If the taxpayer forgets to claim the TDS credit while filing ITR, then he/she will lose out the benefit unless specifically mentioned details of carrying forward it for the future years. To claim the benefit, he/she is required to file a revised return claiming the tax credit."

Note: If you need to file a revised return, you can file it till March 31, 2020.