Rule 219 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026

Where this rule sits

Rule 219 gives effect to Section 397 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.

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What this rule does

Sub-rule (1) requires every person responsible for deduction or collection of tax at source under Chapter XIX-B, for the sections in column B of the first Table, to deliver quarterly statements in the form in column C to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by him, as required by section 397(3)(b). The four entries are: Form 138 for section 392 other than section 392(7) and for section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 8(iii)]; Form 144 for sections 392(7), 393(2) and 393(3) where the deductee is a non-resident, not being a company, or a foreign company, or a resident but not ordinarily resident; Form 140 for sections 392(7), 393(1) other than [Table: Sl. No. 8(iii)] and 393(3) for any other deductee; and Form 143 for section 394(1).

Sub-rules (2) and (3) deal with virtual digital assets. Where, under the guidelines issued under section 400(2) read with section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. (8)(vi)], an exchange has agreed to pay the tax on a transfer of a virtual digital asset owned by it as an alternative to deduction by the buyer, the exchange delivers a quarterly statement of such transactions in Form No. 142, and when preparing it must furnish particulars of the amount paid or credited on which tax was not deducted in accordance with those guidelines.

Sub-rule (4) sets the due dates in a second Table. For the quarter ending 30th June the statement is due by 31st July of the financial year; for 30th September, by 31st October of the financial year; for 31st December, by 31st January of the financial year; and for 31st March, by 31st May of the financial year immediately following the tax year in which the deduction or collection is required to be made.

Sub-rule (5) overrides sub-rules (1), (2) and (4) for four cases. A challan-cum-statement in Form No. 141 must be furnished within thirty days from the end of the month in which the deduction is made, by a person responsible for deduction under section 393(1) [Table Sl. No. (2)(i)], [Table Sl. No. (3)(i)], [Table Sl. No. (6)(ii)] and [Table Sl. No. (8)(vi)].

Sub-rule (6) requires a claim for refund of a sum paid to the credit of the Central Government under Chapter XIX-B to be furnished by the deductor in Form No. 139.

Sub-rule (7) deals with an approved superannuation fund. Where the trustees pay an employer's contributions, including interest on them, to an employee during his lifetime, they must send a statement to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by him within two months from the end of the financial year, giving the name of the fund, the name and address of the employee, the period of the employee's contribution, the amount of contribution repaid as principal and interest, the average rate of deduction of tax during the preceding three years, and the amount of tax deducted on repayment.

Sub-rule (8) requires a duly-signed verification in the prescribed form of words to be annexed to the statement referred to in sub-rule (1), and sets out the trustees' declaration that what is stated is true to the best of their information and belief.

Sub-rule (9) defines "exchange" as a person that operates an application or platform for transfer of virtual digital assets which matches buy and sell trades and executes them on that application or platform, and takes "virtual digital asset" from section 2(111).

Why it is there

Section 397(3)(b) requires a statement of deduction or collection but leaves the form, the periodicity and the due dates to be prescribed. The rule maps each deduction provision to a specific form so that a statement can be matched to the section under which tax was taken, and separates the non-resident deductee stream into its own form. The thirty-day challan-cum-statement route in sub-rule (5) exists because those four deductions are one-off payments by persons who are not running a regular deduction account.

Who it applies to

• Every person responsible for deduction or collection of tax at source under Chapter XIX-B for the sections in the first Table
• An exchange that has agreed to pay tax on transfer of a virtual digital asset owned by it under the section 400(2) guidelines
• A deductor claiming refund of a sum paid to the credit of the Central Government
• A person responsible for deduction under the four provisions listed in sub-rule (5), who files a challan-cum-statement
• Trustees of an approved superannuation fund repaying employer contributions with interest during an employee's lifetime

The figures, and what each one turns on

The forms it prescribes

• Form 138 — quarterly statement for section 392 other than section 392(7), and for section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. 8(iii)]
• Form 140 — quarterly statement for sections 392(7), 393(1) other than [Table: Sl. No. 8(iii)] and 393(3), for deductees other than those in Form 144
• Form 143 — quarterly statement for section 394(1)
• Form 144 — quarterly statement for sections 392(7), 393(2) and 393(3) where the deductee is a non-resident not being a company, a foreign company, or a resident but not ordinarily resident
• Form No. 141 — challan-cum-statement for the four deduction provisions listed in sub-rule (5)
• Form No. 142 — quarterly statement by an exchange paying tax on transfers of virtual digital assets owned by it
• Form No. 139 — claim for refund by the deductor of a sum paid to the credit of the Central Government under Chapter XIX-B

What this means in practice

The form is chosen by the deductee as much as by the section. Sl. No. 2 of the first Table routes deductions in respect of a non-resident not being a company, a foreign company, or a resident but not ordinarily resident into Form 144, while the same sections for any other deductee go into Form 140 — so a single deductor may file two different forms for the same quarter. The last quarter is the one that breaks the pattern: three quarters are due one month after they end, within the same financial year, but the March quarter is due on 31st May of the financial year immediately following the tax year in which the deduction or collection is required to be made. Sub-rule (5) is not an alternative the deductor may choose — it applies irrespective of sub-rules (1), (2) and (4), and its clock runs monthly from the deduction, not quarterly. The exchange provisions work only where the exchange has agreed under the section 400(2) guidelines to pay the tax as an alternative to the buyer's deduction; sub-rule (3) then requires the exchange to disclose in Form No. 142 the amounts on which tax was not deducted under those guidelines.

An example

A company deducts tax under section 393(3) in the quarter ending 30th September, partly on payments to resident deductees and partly on payments to a foreign company. It files Form 140 for the resident payments and Form 144 for the payment to the foreign company, both by 31st October of that financial year, with the verification under sub-rule (8) annexed. In February the same company deducts tax under section 393(1) [Table Sl. No. (2)(i)] on a one-off payment; sub-rule (5) applies irrespective of the quarterly scheme, so it files a challan-cum-statement in Form No. 141 within thirty days from the end of February rather than waiting for the March quarter statement due on 31st May of the following financial year.

Where you meet this rule

A deductor meets it every quarter, in the statement filed with the Director General of Income-tax (Systems), and a deductee meets its output indirectly in the tax credit that flows from those statements. A person making a one-off deduction meets the Form No. 141 challan-cum-statement instead.

The words themselves

What people get wrong

• Filing one form for all deductees. Sl. No. 2 of the first Table requires Form 144 where the deductee is a non-resident not being a company, a foreign company, or a resident but not ordinarily resident, and Sl. No. 3 requires Form 140 for other deductees under the same sections.
• Reading the March quarter as due on 30th April. Sub-rule (4) sets it at 31st May of the financial year immediately following the tax year in which the deduction or collection is required to be made.
• Rolling a sub-rule (5) deduction into the quarterly statement. Sub-rule (5) applies irrespective of sub-rules (1), (2) and (4) and requires Form No. 141 within thirty days from the end of the month of deduction.
• Assuming an exchange may always pay in place of the buyer. Sub-rule (2) applies only where the exchange has so agreed under the guidelines issued under section 400(2) read with section 393(1) [Table: Sl. No. (8)(vi)].
• Omitting the non-deduction particulars from Form No. 142. Sub-rule (3) requires the exchange to furnish particulars of the amount paid or credited on which tax was not deducted in accordance with the guidelines.
• Filing the statement without the verification. Sub-rule (8) requires a duly-signed verification in the prescribed form of words to be annexed to the statement referred to in sub-rule (1).