Rule 215 — Certificate of tax deducted or collected at source to be furnished under section 395(4). Made under s.395, s.392, s.393, s.394 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 215 gives effect to Section 395, Section 392, Section 393 and Section 394 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.
Sub-rule (1) requires the certificate of deduction or collection of tax at source under Chapter XIX-B, or of payment of tax by the employer on behalf of the employee under section 392(2)(a), to be furnished to the employee, payee, buyer, licensee or lessee after generating and downloading it from the web portal specified by the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by him, in the Form and within the time set out in the Table. Deduction or payment under section 392 (other than sub-section (7)) and section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 8(iii)] goes in Form 130 by the 15th June of the financial year immediately following the tax year in which the income was paid and tax deducted. Deduction under section 392(7), under section 393(1) other than the four entries listed, and under section 393(2) and (3), goes in Form 131 within fifteen days from the due date for furnishing the statement of tax deducted at source under rule 219. Deduction under the four listed entries of section 393(1) goes in Form 132 within fifteen days from the due date for furnishing the challan-cum-statement in Form No. 141. Collection under section 394(1) goes in Form 133 within fifteen days from the due date for furnishing the statement of tax collected at source under rule 219.
Sub-rule (2) deals with more than one employer in a year: each employer issues Parts A and B of the certificate in Form No. 130 for the period of employment with it, and Part C may be issued by each of them or by the last employer, at the assessee's option.
Sub-rule (3) allows a duplicate certificate in Form No. 130, 131 or 133 where the deductee or collectee has lost the original and requests one, the duplicate being certified as duplicate by the deductor or collector. Sub-rule (4) lets the deductor, at his option, use digital signatures to authenticate a certificate in Form No. 130, 131, 132 or 133. Sub-rule (5) requires, for digitally signed certificates, that once signed the contents are not amenable to change, and that the certificates have a control number and a log of them is maintained by the deductor.
Sub-rule (6) defines challan identification number as the number comprising the Basic Statistical Returns (bsr) Code of the bank branch where the tax has been deposited, the date of deposit and the challan serial number given by the bank. Sub-rule (7) requires the certificate to be generated and downloaded in accordance with the procedures, formats and standards specified under rule 332.
Section 395(4) requires a certificate of deduction or collection but leaves the form, the time and the manner to be prescribed. The rule matches a form to each deduction stream and hangs every due date except the salary one off the statement or challan-cum-statement date, so the certificate cannot issue before the underlying statement is due. Requiring generation and download from the specified portal makes the certificate a reproduction of the Department's own record rather than the deductor's assertion.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Due date for the salary certificate | By the 15th June of the financial year immediately following the tax year in which the income was paid and tax deducted | Deduction or payment of tax under section 392 (other than sub-section (7)) and section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 8(iii)], in Form 130 | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 1 |
| Due date for the Form 131 certificate | Within fifteen days from the due date for furnishing the statement of tax deducted at source under rule 219 | Deduction under section 392(7), section 393(1) other than the listed entries, and section 393(2) and (3) | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 2 |
| Due date for the Form 132 certificate | Within fifteen days from the due date for furnishing challan-cum-statement in Form No. 141 | Deduction under section 393(1) [Table: Sl. Nos. (2)(i), (3)(i), (6)(ii) and (8)(vi)] | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 3 |
| Due date for the Form 133 certificate | Within fifteen days from the due date for furnishing statement of tax collected at source under rule 219 | Collection under section 394(1) | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 4 |
Only the salary certificate has a calendar date. Sub-rule (1) gives Forms 131, 132 and 133 a period of fifteen days measured from the due date for the underlying statement under rule 219, or for the challan-cum-statement in Form No. 141, so the certificate date moves with the statement date and cannot be worked out independently. The deductor does not compose the certificate: sub-rule (1) requires it to be generated and downloaded from the specified web portal, and sub-rule (7) ties that to the procedures, formats and standards under rule 332. Where an employee has had more than one employer, sub-rule (2) splits the document — each employer issues Parts A and B for its own period, and only Part C may be consolidated by the last employer if the assessee so chooses. A duplicate under sub-rule (3) is available for Forms 130, 131 and 133 on a lost original; Form 132 is not in that list.
An employee works for two companies in a tax year. Each issues Parts A and B of Form No. 130 for its own period by the 15th June of the following financial year, and the employee asks the second company to issue Part C for the whole year, which sub-rule (2) permits. The same second company, having also deducted tax on a contractor payment, downloads Form No. 131 for that contractor within fifteen days from the due date of its rule 219 statement.
You meet it as the deduction certificate itself — the Form 130 an employee receives, the Form 131 a professional or contractor receives, the Form 133 a buyer receives — and as the document reconciled against the credit claimed in the return.
shall be furnished to the employee, or payee, or buyer, or licensee, or lessee, as the case may be, after generating and downloading the same from the web portal specified by the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by him
once the certificate is digitally signed, the contents of the certificates are not amenable to change
The certificate shall be generated and downloaded in accordance with the procedures, formats and standards specified under rule 332.
