5 things to know before making e-payment of TDS on sale of property

The buyer of an immovable property (land, flat, apartment, shop or a bungalow) which is valued at Rs 50 lakh or more is required to pay a withholding tax to the government. The prevailing withholding tax is deducted at source, and is 1% of the consideration payable to the seller. It is the responsibility of the buyer to deduct the tax and deposit the same in the government treasury.

Where

The buyer needs to visit the Tax Information Network (TIN) website which can be accessed at the following URL: onlineservices.tin.egov-nsdl. com/etaxnew/tdsnontds.jsp

Details

Address and details of the property such as total consideration payable, type of property and payment details should be provided. TDS needs to be paid on the amount paid/payable to the seller.

Joint parties

If the property transaction has more than one party as a buyer or seller, Form 26QB needs to be filled in by each buyer for unique buyer-seller combination for the respective share. For example, in case of two buyers and two sellers, four forms must be filled for respective shares.

Payment of tax

The buyer has the option to pay the tax online through the e-tax payment option immediately or at a subsequent date. Alternatively, he can make the payment by visiting any authorised bank branch.

Points to note
> The buyer of the property is not required to procure a TAN (TDS Account Number) for the payment of TDS on sale of property.

> The acknowledgement number issued for e-payment needs to be retained by the buyer/tax payer and presented to the authorised bank for further payments.
(The content on this page is courtesy Centre for Investment Education and Learning (CIEL). Contributions by Girija Gadre, Arti Bhargava and Labdhi Mehta).