20/02/2026
*Income Tax Department should seriously consider introducing an amnesty scheme to settle and extinguish old TDS demands.*
In many cases, assessees have already filed their TDS returns. The demand has arisen due to minor clerical or technical issues such as invalid PAN, incorrect TDS rate, short deduction due to system mismatch, or data entry errors. These are not cases of deliberate tax evasion.
A large number of such demands are more than 15 years old and often involve small amounts, say below Rs 25,000. At this stage, assessees may not even have access to the relevant records or supporting documents. Continuing to show such legacy demands only increases compliance burden and unnecessary litigation.
A one time amnesty scheme for old and small TDS defaults would clean up pending records, reduce administrative load, and bring practical relief to taxpayers.
