Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced a scheme for small taxpayers. This is aimed at easing the tax burden and cutting down compliance hassles. The measures focus on automation and centralised processes to ensure tax is deducted only when it is actually due, helping taxpayers avoid unnecessary paperwork and long waits for refunds.
While presenting the budget, she said,“I propose a scheme for small taxpayers wherein a rule-based automated process will enable obtaining a lower or nil deduction certificate instead of filing an application with the assessing officer.” She further added, “For the ease of taxpayer holding securities in multiple companies, I propose to enable depositories to accept Form 15G or Form 15H from the investor and provide it directly to various relevant companies.”
Why this is a big relief for small taxpayers?
These changes save time, reduce paperwork, and prevent unnecessary deduction of tax from people who don’t actually owe it. Small taxpayers often struggle with refunds because of TDS deducted by mistake or delay. Automation and centralised submission mean fewer refunds to chase, less interaction with tax officials, and more money in hand when income is received.
What does this mean?
The Finance Minister has announced changes that make the TDS system much simpler for small taxpayers and investors. TDS is tax that gets deducted before income reaches you, even when your total income may be so low that you don’t actually have to pay tax. Until now, avoiding this deduction involved paperwork, follow-ups, and delays. The new proposal aims to remove most of that hassle.
Earlier, if your income was low and you wanted tax not to be deducted, you had to apply for a lower or nil TDS certificate by filing Form 13 and waiting for approval from an assessing officer. This process was slow and depended on manual checks. Under the new proposal, the system will automatically decide whether you qualify for lower or zero TDS based on fixed rules like income and tax status. This means eligible taxpayers can get relief without filing applications or running after tax officers.
One-time submission of Form 15G or 15H
At present, investors who hold shares or fixed deposits in multiple companies or banks have to submit Form 15G or Form 15H separately to each one. Missing even a single submission leads to unnecessary tax deduction and later refund claims. The proposal allows depositories to accept Form 15G or 15H once and electronically share it with all relevant companies. This removes repeated submissions and reduces errors.