Rule 218 — Time and mode of payment to Government account of tax deducted or collected at source or tax paid under section 392(2)(a). Made under s.392, s.393 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 218 gives effect to Section 392 and Section 393 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) deals with an office of the Government. All sums deducted or collected under Chapter XIX-B, or construed as deductible under section 392(2), by an office of the Government are to be paid to the credit of the Central Government on the same day where the tax is paid without production of an income-tax challan, and on or before seven days from the end of the month in which the deduction or collection is made or income-tax is due under section 392(2)(a), where tax is paid accompanied by an income-tax challan.
Sub-rule (2) deals with everyone else. Sums deducted or collected by deductors or collectors other than an office of the Government are to be paid on or before 30th April where the income or amount is credited or paid, or debited or received, in the month of March, and in any other case on or before seven days from the end of the month in which the deduction or collection is made or income-tax is due under section 392(2)(a).
Sub-rule (3) overrides both for four classes of deduction under section 393(1): rent at Table Sl. No. (2)(i); consideration for transfer of any immovable property other than agricultural land at Table Sl. No. (3)(i); sums for carrying out any work including supply of labour in pursuance of a contract, fees for professional services, and commission other than insurance commission referred to in Table Sl. No. (1)(i), or brokerage, at Table Sl. No. (6)(ii); and consideration for transfer of a virtual digital asset at Table Sl. No. (8)(vi). For these, payment is to be made within thirty days from the end of the month in which the deduction is made and is to be accompanied by a challan-cum-statement in Form No. 141.
Sub-rule (4) allows the Assessing Officer, in special cases and with the prior approval of the Joint Commissioner of Income-tax, to permit quarterly payment of tax deducted under section 392(1) or section 393(1) [Table: Sl. Nos. (1)(i) and (ii), and 5(ii) and (iii)]. The Table sets the dates: for the quarter ended 30th June, by 7th July; for 30th September, by 7th October; for 31st December, by 7th January; and for 31st March, by 30th April.
Sub-rules (5) to (8) deal with payment without a challan by an office of the Government. The Pay and Accounts Officer, District Treasury Officer, Cheque Drawing and Disbursing Officer or other person to whom the deductor or collector reports the tax and who is responsible for crediting it must submit a statement in Form No. 137 to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or a person authorised by him, on or before the 30th April where it relates to the month of March and in any other case on or before fifteen days from the end of the relevant month. He must intimate the Book Identification Number generated by the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or his authorised person to each deductor or collector whose deducted or collected sum has been credited, and must obtain an Account Office Identification Number for filing Form No. 137 by filing Form 136.
Sub-rules (9) to (11) deal with mode. Where tax is to be deposited along with an income-tax challan it is to be remitted into any branch of the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India or any authorised bank. Where it is to be deposited along with an income-tax challan by persons referred to in rule 333, or along with a challan-cum-statement under sub-rule (3), it is to be remitted electronically into the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India or any authorised bank. The Director General of Income-tax (Systems) is to specify the procedure, formats and standards for remitting electronically and is responsible for the day-to-day administration of it.
Chapter XIX-B says tax must be deducted or collected; it does not say when the money must reach the Government or how it must travel. This rule supplies both, and it draws its distinctions by who is paying and what is being paid on. A Government office paying without a challan has no lag at all and must credit the same day; everyone else works to a seven-day rhythm with a longer date for March; and four categories where the deductor is often not a regular deductor at all — rent, property purchases, contract and professional payments and virtual digital assets — are given thirty days and a combined challan-cum-statement so that a single document does the work of a payment and a return.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment by a Government office without a challan | On the same day | Where the tax is paid without production of an income-tax challan | Sub-rule (1)(a) |
| Payment by a Government office with a challan | On or before seven days from the end of the month | The month in which the deduction or collection is made or income-tax is due under section 392(2)(a) | Sub-rule (1)(b) |
| Payment by a non-Government deductor or collector for March | On or before 30th April | Where the income or amount is credited or paid, or debited or received, in the month of March | Sub-rule (2)(a) |
| Payment by a non-Government deductor or collector in any other case | On or before seven days from the end of the month | The month in which the deduction or collection is made or income-tax is due under section 392(2)(a) | Sub-rule (2)(b) |
| Payment for rent, immovable property, contract, professional, commission or brokerage and virtual digital asset deductions | Within a period of thirty days from the end of the month in which the deduction is made | Accompanied by a challan-cum-statement in Form No. 141; overrides sub-rules (1) and (2) | Sub-rule (3) |
| Quarterly payment date, quarter ended 30th June | 7th July | Permitted by the Assessing Officer in special cases with the prior approval of the Joint Commissioner of Income-tax | Sub-rule (4), Table Sl. No. 1 |
| Quarterly payment date, quarter ended 30th September | 7th October | As permitted under sub-rule (4) | Sub-rule (4), Table Sl. No. 2 |
| Quarterly payment date, quarter ended 31st December | 7th January | As permitted under sub-rule (4) | Sub-rule (4), Table Sl. No. 3 |
| Quarterly payment date, quarter ended 31st March | 30th April | As permitted under sub-rule (4) | Sub-rule (4), Table Sl. No. 4 |
| Form No. 137 statement for March | On or before the 30th April | Where the statement relates to the month of March | Sub-rule (6)(a) |
| Form No. 137 statement in any other case | On or before fifteen days from the end of relevant month | Statement by the Pay and Accounts Officer or other responsible person under sub-rule (5) | Sub-rule (6)(b) |
Find the right sub-rule before counting any days, because sub-rule (3) begins with words that displace both of the general timetables for the four deductions it lists — those are on thirty days from the end of the month of deduction, with Form No. 141, not on seven days and not on the March extension. The March concession in sub-rule (2)(a) is worded by reference to the month in which the amount is credited or paid or debited or received, not the month of deduction, so a March credit carries the 30th April date. Quarterly payment under sub-rule (4) is not an option the deductor can take: it needs the Assessing Officer's permission in a special case and the Joint Commissioner's prior approval, and it is confined to the deductions the sub-rule names. For a Government office paying without a challan there is no grace at all — the same day — and the reporting chain that follows is separate machinery: Form 136 to get the Account Office Identification Number, Form No. 137 as the statement, and the Book Identification Number intimated back to each deductor. Mode matters too: challan payments go into a branch of the Reserve Bank of India, the State Bank of India or an authorised bank, but for persons referred to in rule 333 and for challan-cum-statement payments under sub-rule (3) the remittance must be electronic.
A firm deducts tax on a contract payment under section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. (6)(ii)] on 12 August. Sub-rule (3) applies, so the tax must be paid within thirty days from the end of August, that is by 30 September, accompanied by a challan-cum-statement in Form No. 141 remitted electronically. Had the same firm deducted tax on salary in August, sub-rule (2)(b) would have required payment on or before 7 September; and had it deducted on salary credited in March, sub-rule (2)(a) would have given it until 30 April.
A deductor meets this rule every month, in the challan or challan-cum-statement by which the deducted tax is remitted, and again in any demand for interest or late payment where the date of credit to the Central Government is the issue. A Government office meets it in the Form No. 137 statement and the Book Identification Number intimated to its deductors.
on the same day, where the tax is paid without production of an income-tax challan
on or before 30th April, where the income or amount is credited or paid, or debited or received in the month of March
the payment of such sum to the credit of the Central Government, shall be made within a period of thirty days from the end of the month in which the deduction is made and shall be accompanied by a challan-cum-statement in Form No. 141