TDS on Salary in India
Last updated: 13 July 2026. General explainer, not legal or tax advice.
How salary TDS works under Section 192
Section 192 of the Income Tax Act requires an employer to deduct tax at source on taxable salary. The employer estimates the employee's tax for the whole year on projected salary, divides it across the months, and deducts a share each month. The tax is deposited with the government against the employee's PAN, usually by the seventh of the following month.
The old regime and the new regime
How much tax comes out depends on the regime the employee is taxed under. The new tax regime is the default. An employee who wants the old regime, with its exemptions and deductions, tells the employer, and the monthly deduction is worked on that basis. Investment and rent declarations the employee submits during the year also change the running estimate.
Employer duties and deadlines
The employer deducts each month, deposits on time, files a quarterly return called Form 24Q, and issues Form 16 to the employee. Form 16 for a year is due by the fifteenth of June that follows it. Short or late deposit attracts interest under the Act, so the timing matters as much as the amount.
What Offrd does and does not do here
Offrd is not a tax filing tool. It does not file your 24Q return and does not decide each employee's final tax liability. What it does is hold salary, allowances and deductions in a clean, consistent form, so the person who files, usually your accountant or CA, works from correct numbers.
What happens at the year end
Through the year the monthly TDS is only an estimate. Near the end, the employee submits proofs for the rent and investments they declared, and the employer trues up the deduction. If too little was taken, the closing months carry a larger cut, and if too much, the excess comes back to the employee as a refund when they file their return.
Once the year closes and the fourth quarter return is filed, the employer issues Form 16. The employee should check that the tax in Form 16 matches Form 26AS and the annual information statement, since those show what actually reached the government against the PAN. A mismatch is worth chasing before filing.
Worked example
Say an employee's tax for the year is estimated at 60,000 rupees. The employer deducts about 5,000 rupees a month and deposits it. When the employee later submits rent and investment proofs, the estimate is revised and the remaining months adjust up or down so the year ends square.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Under which section is salary TDS deducted?
Section 192 of the Income Tax Act. It requires the employer to deduct tax at source on taxable salary and deposit it with the government.
When must the employer deposit salary TDS?
Usually by the seventh of the month after the deduction. The quarterly return, Form 24Q, is filed separately after each quarter.
When is Form 16 issued?
By the fifteenth of June following the financial year. It is the certificate that summarises the salary paid and the tax deducted.
Does Offrd file salary TDS returns?
No. Offrd does not file 24Q or generate the TDS return. Your accountant or CA does that. Offrd keeps the payroll records clean for the filing.
What if too much TDS is deducted?
The excess is claimed back as a refund when the employee files an income tax return for the year, since all the deducted tax shows against the PAN.
What if the employee does not submit investment proofs?
The employer withdraws the provisional exemptions and deducts more tax in the closing months. The employee can still claim eligible deductions when filing the income tax return.
How does an employee check the TDS is correct?
By matching Form 16 against Form 26AS and the annual information statement, which show the tax actually credited against the PAN.
Sources and official references
The rules and figures on this page trace to the official sources below. Statutory amounts and dates change, so confirm the current number on the source before you act on it.
How Offrd helps
Offrd records salary, allowances and deductions cleanly, so the data your CA needs for 24Q and Form 16 is ready to hand over.