What Is Form 15h In Income Tax

Form 15H, as mentioned above, can be submitted by the assessee to the banks which will enable them to avoid deduction of TDS. This form is submitted by individuals who are of the age of 60 years or above. In the case of individuals who are below the age of 60 years, the corresponding form is Form 15G. The prerequisites for submitting Form 15H or 15G is having a valid PAN Card.

For the financial year 2020-21, the government has extended the validity of the Form 15G and Form 15H expiring on 31st March 2020 up to 30th June 2020. This move was taken due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the taxpayers may not be able to submit the forms in the first week of April 2020.

As per the relief provided above, taxpayers will be allowed to submit the Form 15G and Form 15H in the first week of July 2020. Also, for the period beginning from 1st April 2020 and up to 30th June 2020, the Form 15G and 15H that have been submitted for FY 2019-20 will be considered to be valid proof for non-deduction of TDS.

Eligibility for Form 15H

The conditions that are required for fulfilling the eligibility for Form 15H are mentioned below.

• It is applicable only to individual taxpayers
• The person must be a resident of the country
• The person has to be a senior citizen (attain the age of 60 years) or will become a senior citizen in the year of submitting the form
• The total taxable income of the assessee is NIL

Eligibility for Form 15G

The eligibility conditions for Form 15G are mentioned below.

• The person should be a resident of India
• The person can be an individual or a HUF or any other assessee but a company or a firm is not eligible
• The person has to be less than 60 years of age
• The total taxable income for the year has to be NIL
• The total interest income has to be less than the basic exemption limit for that financial year

How to download Form 15H (or Form 15G)?

Form 15H (or Form 15G) can be easily downloaded from the income tax website. These forms are also available at the website of the individual banks. A person can download the form from any of these sources. After downloading the said form, the assessee will have to duly fill the form and submit the same with the bank or the appropriate authority within the due dates.

The assessee will have to submit a separate Form 15H (or Form 15G) with each bank or post office where he/she holds a deposit.

What to do if a person forgets to submit Form 15H (or Form 15G)?

In the event that the assessee has forgotten to submit Form 15H or Form 15G in due time, the bank will be obliged to deduct the TDS on the interest income as per the rules of the Income tax Act, 1961.

The assessee has the following remedies in such scenarios.

Filing the Income Tax Return to claim refund of TDS

The assessee is entitled to get a refund of excess TDS deducted by way of filing the income tax return. The TDS deducted is deposited by the banks and other deductors to the Income Tax Department and hence, they are not the authority to refund the amount of TDS wrongly deducted. The Department will refund the amount of TDS upon review after the assessee has filed the required Income Tax Return (ITR).

Submitting  Form 15G and Form 15H immediately

TDS is deducted by majority of by majority of banks on quarterly basis. Hence, the assessee has the option to submit the Form 15H or Form 15G as applicable to the banks at the earliest in order to avoid deduction of TDS for the balance period of the financial year.

Other Purposes of Submitting form 15H (or Form 15G)

The primary reason for submitting Form 15H or form 15G is to avoid deduction of TDS by the banks on the interest income on the deposits held by the assessee. However, the assessee can submit these forms for other purposes as well. Some of such reasons are mentioned below.

TDS on EPF withdrawal

As per the Income tax rules, withdrawal from EPF is liable to TDS deduction if withdrawn before 5 years of continuous service. If the amount of withdrawal from the EPF account is more than Rs. 50,000 (effective from 1st June 2016, before that the limit was Rs.30,000) and the person has less than 5 years of service, such withdrawal is liable to TDS at the rate of 10%. If the assessee does not furnish PAN information, the TDS will be deducted at the higher rate of 30%. However, the assessee can submit Form 15G or Form 15H and avoid the deduction of TDS. The prerequisite for the same is fulfilling the above eligibility conditions.

TDS on income from corporate bonds

Income received as interest from corporate bonds is also subject to TDS as per IT Act, 1961. TDS is deductible on income from corporate bonds exceeding Rs. 5,000. An assessee can reduce this tax liability by submitting Form 15G or Form 15H to the issuer.

TDS on post office deposits

Income from deposits with Post offices are also subject to TDS deduction. Submitting Form 15G or Form 15H can reduce this tax liability provided the assessee meets the eligibility criteria.

TDS on rent

Rent income is subject to TDS and is deducted on rent exceeding Rs 2,40,000 annually. The Act provides that if the tax on the total income of the owner of the property is nil, then they can submit Form 15G or Form 15H requesting the tenant to not deduct TDS.

TDS on Insurance Commission

Insurance commission is another income source that is subject to TDS deduction. This is applicable if the income exceeds Rs. 15,000 per financial year. Such TDS deduction can be avoided if the insurance agents can submit Form 15G/Form 15H if tax on their total income is nil (with effect from 1st June 2017)

FAQs on Form 15H in Income Tax