TDS Interest and Late Fee Calculator

TDS has two separate deadlines, and each has its own cost: paying the tax late costs interest, and filing the quarterly TDS return late costs a daily fee. One delay doesn't trigger the other's charge.

Late filing fee (Section 234E)

₹200 per day for late filing of the TDS statement (return). The late fee cannot exceed the total TDS amount for that quarter.

Interest (Section 201(1A))

1.5% per month (a part of a month counts as a full month) on TDS deducted but paid late, from the date it was deducted to the date it was paid. If tax wasn't deducted at all when it should have been, the rate is 1% per month.

Additional penalty (Section 271H)

Separately from the fee, the tax officer can levy a penalty of ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 for a TDS return that isn't filed within the time allowed. It isn't levied if the TDS, interest and fee are paid and the return is filed within one year of its due date.

Key TDS deadlines every business must track:

• Deposit of TDS: 7th of every month for the TDS deducted in the previous month.
• For March TDS: Deposited by 30th April (annual deadline).
• TDS return filing (Q1): 31st July.
• TDS return filing (Q2): 31st October.
• TDS return filing (Q3): 31st January.
• TDS return filing (Q4): 31st May.

TDS certificates (Form 16/16A) must be issued within 15 days of the return filing due date. Late deposit blocks employees from claiming credit and can lead to disallowance of expenses for the company.

Buying property (Form 26QB): the buyer deducts TDS and pays it with Form 26QB, a challan and return in one, within 30 days from the end of the month of deduction. Filing it late costs ₹200 a day, never more than the TDS. Paying late costs 1.5% a month from deduction to payment, and deducting late costs 1% a month, with every calendar month or part counted in full.

• A ₹200/day fee for every day the TDS return is late, up to the TDS amount.
• Interest of 1.5% per month (simple, not compounding) on TDS paid late.
• Part or all of the related expense can be disallowed if TDS isn't deducted and paid in time, which raises your taxable income.
• Prosecution for not depositing TDS: up to FY 2025-26 under Section 276B (3 months to 7 years); from 1 April 2026 under section 476 of the Income-tax Act 2025 — fine only up to ₹10 lakh of tax, simple imprisonment up to 6 months for ₹10–50 lakh, up to 2 years above ₹50 lakh (Finance Act 2026, s.111).

From tax year 2026-27 (income earned from 1 April 2026) the Income-tax Act 2025 replaces the 1961 Act. This page uses the 1961 section numbers, which still apply to FY 2025-26 and earlier years. For the current year, the same rules sit under these new numbers:

• Section 201 (failure to deduct or pay TDS) → section 398 of the Income-tax Act 2025
• Section 234E → section 427 of the Income-tax Act 2025
• Section 271H → section 461 of the Income-tax Act 2025
• Section 276B → section 476 of the Income-tax Act 2025