Annual e-TDS/TCS return is the TDS return under section 206 of the Income Tax Act (prepared in Form Nos. 24, 26 or 27) or TCS return under section 206C of the Income Tax Act (prepared in Form No. 27E), which is prepared in electronic media as per prescribed data structure. Such returns furnished in a CD/Pen Drive should be accompanied by a signed verification in Form No. 27A in case of Annual TDS returns or Form No. 27B in case of Annual TCS return
Last updted:29.12.2014
2. What is quarterly e-TDS/TCS statement?
TDS/TCS returns filed in electronic form as per section 200(3)/206C, as amended by Finance Act, 2005, are quarterly TDS/TCS statements. As per the Income Tax Act, these quarterly statements are required to be furnished from FY 2005-06 onwards. The forms used for quarterly e-TDS statements are Form Nos. 24Q, 26Q and 27Q and for quarterly e-TCS statement is Form No. 27EQ. These statements filed in CD/Pen Drive should be accompanied by a signed verification in Form No. 27A in case of both e-TDS/TCS statements.
3. Who is required to file e-TDS/TCS return?
As per Income Tax Act, 1961, all corporate and government deductors/ collectors are compulsorily required to file their TDS/TCS returns on electronic media (i.e. e-TDS/TCS returns). However, deductors/collectors other than corporate/government can file either in physical or in electronic form.
4. e-TDS/TCS returns have been made mandatory for Government deductors. How do I know
whether I am a Government deductor or not?
All Drawing and Disbursing Officers of Central and State Governments come under the category of Government deductors.
5. Under what provision should e-TDS/TCS returns be filed?
An e-TDS return should be filed under Section 206 of the Income Tax Act in accordance with the scheme dated August 26, 2003 for electronic filing of TDS return notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for this purpose. CBDT Circular No. 8 dated September 19, 2003 may also be referred.
An e-TCS return should be filed under Section 206C of the Income Tax Act in accordance with the scheme dated March 30, 2005 for electronic filing of TCS return notified by the CBDT for this purpose.
As per section 200(3)/206C, as amended by Finance Act 2005, deductors/ collectors are required to file quarterly TDS/TCS statements from FY 2005- 06 onwards.
6.Who is the e-Filing Administrator?
CBDT has appointed the Director General of Income Tax (Systems) as e-Filing Administrator for the purpose of electronic filing of TDS/TCS returns.
7. Who is an e-TDS/TCS Intermediary?
BDT has appointed National Securities Depository Limited, (NSDL), Mumbai, as e-TDS/TCS Intermediary. NSDL has established TIN Facilitation Centres (TIN-FCs) across the country to facilitate deductors/ collectors file their e-TDS/TCS returns.
8. How should the e-TDS/TCS return be prepared?
e-TDS/TCS return has to be prepared in the data format issued by e-Filing Administrator. This is available on the Income Tax Department website (www.incometaxindia.gov.in) and NSDL-TI N website (www.tin-nsdl.com). There is a validation software (File Validation Utility) available along with the data structure which should be used to validate the data structure of the e-TDS/TCS return prepared. The e-TDS/TCS return should have following features:
Each e-TDS/TCS return file should be in a separate CD/Pen Drive.
Each e-TDS/TCS return file should be accompanied by a duly filled and signed (by an authorised signatory) Form No. 27A in physical form.
Each e-TDS/TCS return file should be in one CD/Pen Drive. It should not span across multiple floppies.
If an e-TDS return file is required to be compressed, it should be compressed using Winzip 8.1 or ZipItFast 3.0 compression utility (or higher version thereof) to ensure quick and smooth acceptance of the file.
Label should be affixed on each CD/Pen Drive mentioning name of the deductor, his TAN, Form no. (i.e. 24, 26 or 27) and period to which the return pertains.
There should not be any overwriting/striking on Form No. 27A. If there is any, then the same should be ratified by an authorised signatory.
No bank challan or copy of TDS/TCS certificate should be filed alongwith e-TDS/TCS return file.
In case of Form Nos. 26 & 27, deductor need not file physical copies of certificates of no deduction or lower deduction of TDS received from deductees.
In case of Form 24, deductor should file physical copies of certificatesof no deduction or deduction of TDS at lower rate, if any, receivedfrom deductees. However, there is no such requirement in case of
Form 24Q.
e-TDS/TCS return file should contain TAN of the deductor/collector without which, the return will not be accepted.
CD/Pen Drive should be virus-free.
In case any of these requirements are not met, the e-TDS/TCS return will not be accepted at TIN-FCs.
9. Is there any software available for preparation of e-TDS/TCS return?
NSDL has made available a freely downloadable return preparation utility for preparation of e-TDS/TCS returns. Additionally, you can develop your own software for this purpose or you may acquire software from various third party vendors. A list of vendors, who have informed NSDL that they have developed software for preparing e-TDS/TCS returns, is available on the NSDL-TIN website.
10.Are the forms used for e-TDS/TCS return same as for physical returns?
Forms for filing TDS/TCS returns were notified by CBDT. These forms are same for electronic and physical returns. However, e-TDS/TCS return is to be prepared as a clean text ASCII file in accordance with the specified data structure (file format) prescribed by ITD
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