NIL TDS – File Declaration for Non-filing of TDS statement on TRACES

NIL TDS – File Declaration for Non-filing of TDS statement on TRACES

Your urgent attention is invited to relevant CBDT Circulars and provisions of the Income Tax Act, mandating filing of TDS Statements and Issuance of TDS Certificates downloaded from TRACES. But If you are not required to submit  TDS statement for FY 2013-14 and not  filed any TDS Statements in FY 2013-14 , than you are required to submit a declaration by taking appropriate action as suggested under “Action to be taken” in this Article.

Currently, if there is no TDS to be deducted, no action is taken in terms of filing TDS return for the particular quarter. Due to this practice of non-intimation, the Income Tax department is not able to find out the difference between the following two types of deductors- 1. Deductors required to file return but not filed and 2. Deductors not required to file return due to NIL TDS. Henceforth, the persons who are not required to submit a return of TDS due to non applicability in any particular quarter shall have to submit a Declaration for the same on Traces as suggested in Point No. 3 of this article.

1. Mandatory filing of TDS Statements:  Under the provisions of section 200(3) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 read with Rule 31A, which reads as follows:

Every person responsible for deduction of tax under Chapter XVII-B, shall, in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 200, deliver, or cause to be delivered, the following quarterly statements to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by the Director General of Income-tax (Systems), namely:
a. Statement of deduction of tax under section 192 in Form No. 24Q;
b. Statement of deduction of tax under sections 193 to 196D in-

•  Form No. 27Q in respect of the deductee who is a non-resident not being a company or a foreign company or resident but not ordinarily resident; and
• Form No. 26Q in respect of all other deductees.

It is, therefore, advised to file the applicable TDS Statements at the earliest to comply with the above provisions.

2. Implications of Non/ Late filing of TDS Statements:

• For Deductors: In case of late filing of TDS Statements, a fee shall be levied on the deductor u/s 234E of the IT Act which reads as under:
  • Where a person fails to deliver or cause to be delivered a statement within the time prescribed in sub-section (3) of section 200 or the proviso to sub-section (3) of section 206C, he shall be liable to pay, by way of fee, a sum of two hundred rupees for every day during which the failure continues

• For Tax payers: Non/ Late filing of TDS statements results into the TDS Credit not being available to the deductees. They, therefore, will not be able to claim the credit for tax already deducted from the payments made to them. Please note that TDS Certificates will not be available until the TDS Statements are duly filed.

3. Actions to be taken and  Procedure for filing of Nil TDS return/ declaration for non filing of TDS statement:

• Please file the relevant TDS Statement without any further delay.

• If you are not required to file the same, please submit a declaration for Non-filing on TRACES. For this purpose, you can login to TRACES, navigate to “Statements/ Payments” menu and submit details under “Declaration for Non-Filing of Statements.

“Declaration for Non-Filing of a statement has been enabled on TRACES”