Can I get TDS relief with form 15H?

Form 15H is a self-declaration for non-deduction of taxes at source which can be submitted by an eligible person to the payor of specified incomes.

Specified incomes includes income from provident fund withdrawal, dividend incomes, interest on securities, other interest incomes, national savings scheme, insurance commissions, life insurance policies, etc.

The following criteria needs to be fulfilled by an individual for being eligible to file Form 15H and avail non deduction of tax at source from payor of aforesaid specified incomes:

The individual should be a tax resident in India for the relevant financial year (FY); a senior citizen—a person who has attained the age of 60 years or more at any time during the FY concerned; and total tax liability (after eligible exemptions/ deductions) for the FY concerned should be nil.

In the instant case, since the estimated tax on your total income (up to ₹5 lakh, after any eligible exemptions and deductions) is expected to be nil, you may submit declaration in Form 15H for the specified incomes, provided rest of the conditions as mentioned above are satisfied.

Content creators, particularly those earning from YouTube, are required to submit tax declarations confirming that they are neither US residents nor US tax residents to prevent a 15% withholding tax deduction from their payouts. To avoid this, they must also provide local jurisdiction paperwork such as a tax residency certificate (TRC). Simply uploading a PAN card is insufficient. As the number of content creators grows, many may be losing money due to taxes withheld at source. How does one obtain a TRC and what are the associated timelines for the application process?

—Narayan Kumar

We understand that you would like to understand the process of obtaining TRC in India. As per the income tax laws, individuals qualifying as a tax resident in India for a relevant financial year can file an application with the respective jurisdictional assessing officer (AO) in Form 10FA (the form can be downloaded online from the income tax website but needs to be submitted physically to the AO). Form 10FA requires specified information of the applicant, viz. name, nationality, address, email id, Permanent Account Number (PAN), basis of determination of residency, period of TRC, purpose of obtaining TRC, etc. to be furnished, along with the supporting documents substantiating such information. The form will need to be duly signed and verified by the applicant.

The AO, upon receipt of the above application, would verify the details and may request for additional information/ details/ clarifications, as may seem appropriate. Upon being satisfied with the information furnished and the tax residency claim, the AO may issue TRC in Form 10FB. Please note that issue of TRC and the timelines for issuing the same, is at the discretion of the AO.

Parizad Sirwalla is partner and head, global mobility services, tax, KPMG in India.

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Published: 24 Mar 2024, 04:54 PM IST