COVID-19 Taxpayer Relief: Reducing TDS, TCS Rates by 25% for Non-Wage Payments through March 2021

New Delhi: The Ministry of Finance has listed various actions by the government in 2020 for ordinary people. As the year draws to a close, let's take a look at the major initiatives/announcements along with the progress made by the Finance and Corporate Affairs departments during the year, as reported in a tweet from the Ministry of Finance.

To save taxpayers more money in these challenging times, TDS & TCS fees have been reduced by 25% from established fees from May 14, 2020, to March 31, 2021.

To facilitate tax compliance during COVID-19 and provide taxpayer exemption various compliances have been relaxed under TDS / TCS provisions.

In May this year, the government lowered the TDS / TCS rate for non-wage payments to residents by 25% for the remaining months of the fiscal year. Finance Minister NirmalaSitharamn announced a series of measures to help businesses and taxpayers amid the emerging coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, that the reduction in the tax (tax withholding at source) / TCS rate (taxes collected at source) will trigger around Rs. 50 billion in the hands of the people.

However, there will be no reduction in the TDS or TCS rates, as the tax will need to be deducted or collected at a higher rate due to the non-delivery of the PAN / Aadhaar. For example, if a tax deduction of 20% is required under Article 206a of the Income Tax Law due to a shortage of supply from PAN / Aadhaar, it will be deducted at a rate of 20% rather than at a rate of 15%.

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