Income Tax Form 139 (Earlier Form 26B): Refund Claim by Deductor

Form 139 under the Income-tax Act, 2025 is the prescribed mechanism for deductors or collectors to claim refund of excess TDS/TCS deposited with the government. It applies where tax has been overpaid due to errors such as duplicate payments, incorrect challans, or excess deduction, provided such excess remains unutilized in the system after processing of TDS/TCS statements. The form must be filed electronically on the TRACES portal and cannot be revised once submitted. Importantly, refund claims are not maintainable if the deductee has already claimed and been allowed credit of such TDS/TCS in their return. Upon approval, the refund, along with applicable interest, is credited directly to the pre-validated bank account of the applicant. The framework ensures accurate reconciliation of tax credits, prevents double claims, and streamlines refund processing through a system-driven approach, enhancing efficiency, transparency, and accountability in tax administration.

Income Tax Department
Ministry of Finance, Government of India

FAQs on Income Tax Form 139 (Earlier Form No. 26B): Form to be filed by deductor, if he claims refund of sum paid under Chapter XIX of Income tax Act 2025

Application for claiming refund of sum paid under Chapter XIX-B of the Income-tax Act, 2025

Q1. What is Form No. 139?

Ans: Form No. 139 is prescribed for making an application to claim a refund of excess TDS/TCS paid by a deductor or collector under Chapter XIX-B of the Income-tax Act, 2025.

Q2. Who should file Form No. 139?

Ans: Any deductor or collector who has deposited more TDS/TCS than the actual tax liability, due to any reason whatsoever and such excess payment is not utilized/consumed by the deductor/collector against any other liability in the system, then deductor/collector can file a refund claim using Form No. 139, which is to be submitted online, for refund of excess TDS/TCS so deposited.

Q3. Is filing of Form No. 139 mandatory?

Ans: No. This Form is required to be filed only where the deductor/collector wishes to seek refund of excess TDS/TCS deposited.

Q4. What is the time limit for filing Form No. 139?

Ans: Form No. 139 can be filed at any time after the corresponding TDS/TCS statement has been processed and excess payment becomes available for refund.

Q5. Will the claim of refund by the deductor/collector, in Form No. 139, be processed if the deductee has already claimed credit of the TDS/TCS in his ITR and same has been allowed to him?

Ans: In a situation where TDS/TCS credit has already been allowed to the deductee then claim of the deductor/collector seeking of refund of such TDS/TCS is not maintainable.

Q6. Is it possible to edit Form No. 139, once submitted?

Form No. 139 (Earlier Form No. 26B)

Ans: No. Once Form No. 139 is submitted and acknowledgment is generated, it cannot be edited.

Q7. Can Form No. 139 be filed offline ?

Ans: No. Form No. 139 can only be submitted online through the TRACES portal of Income-tax Department.

Q8. How will the refund be issued?

Ans: Upon approval, the refund along with interest shall be credited directly to the pre-validated bank account of the deductor.

Q9. How will deductor/collector know whether the Form No. 139 submitted by him has been accepted by the Income-tax Department?

Ans: After filing Form No. 139 on the TRACES portal of Income-tax Department, the deductor/collector receives an Acknowledgment Number on successful submission of the Form.

Q10. Whether the Deductor/collector is required to file Form No. 139 to seek refund arising out of order giving effect or rectification order under the Income-tax Act, 2025?

Ans: Where as a result of any order passed in appeal or rectification under the Income-tax Act 2025, refund is determined as payable to a deductor/collector, such refund will be given without such person having to file Form No. 139.

Guidance Note on Income Tax Form 139 (Earlier Form No. 26B): Form to be filed by deductor, if he claims refund of sum paid under Chapter XIX of Income tax Act 2025

Form No. 139: Form to be filled by the deductor, if he claims refund of sum paid under Chapter XIX of the Income-tax Act, 2025

Purpose:

This form entitles the deductor/collector to claim refund of the excess amount of TDS/TCS paid.

As per Rule 219(6) of the Income-tax Rules, 2026:

“Where a person has paid to the credit of the Central Government any sum under Chapter XIX-B in excess of the amount required to be paid, he may claim refund of such excess by filing an application in Form No. 139 electronically to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by him.”

This may arise due to errors like duplicate deductions, deduction at higher than applicable rates or overpayment.

Who should file:

Any Deductor (under TDS) or Collector (under TCS) or Taxpayer (for refund related to tax deducted under section 393(1) [Table: Sl. Nos. 2(i), 3(i), 6(ii) and 8(vi)]) who has:

1. Deposited tax in excess of actual liability due to:

• • Duplicate payments,
  • Incorrect challan details,
  • Excess deduction due to calculation error, or
  • Rectified demand adjustments, etc.; and

2. Whose TDS/TCS statement has been processed by CPC-TDS (TRACES), and such excess payment is available as an unmatched / unconsumed challan credit in the system.

Only registered TAN/PAN holders on TRACES Portal are eligible to file Form No. 139.

Frequency & Due Dates:

• Form No. 139 can be filed at any time after the corresponding TDS/TCS statement has been processed and excess payment is available for refund.

Structure of Form No. 139:

1. Part A: Particulars of the Deductor/Collector

• • Name, Address, PAN, TAN (if applicable) and Contact Details
  • Bank Account Number, IFSC Code, Type of Account (as applicable) and Legal Entity Identification Number (if applicable)

2. Part B:

• • Details of sum paid for which Refund is being claimed: Challan Identification Number (CIN) [BSR Code, Date of Deposit, Challan Serial No.] and Challan Amount.
  • Detail of sum paid under Chapter XIX by the deductor/collector for which credit has been claimed in the statement: Tax Year, Statements in which challan has been utilised, Receipt number/Acknowledgement number of relevant statements and Amount utilised in statement.
  • Amount of refund claimed.

3. Declaration:

• • Declaration by Deductor/Collector/Taxpayer that claim is true and excess amount has not been claimed elsewhere.
  • Digital Signature of Authorised Signatory.

Documents/details required to file the Form No. 139:

To file Form No. 139 electronically, the following are generally required:

• Copies of challan through which excess TDS/TCS paid.
• PAN/TAN details.
• Details of statements in which tax credit has been claimed, if applicable.
• Justification for refund.
• Bank details with supporting proof.

Filing Count:

On average, about five thousand refund requests have been filed annually over the last five years.

Process flow of filing Form No. 139:

1. Login

• • Deductor/Collector/Taxpayer logs in to TRACES using TAN/PAN

2. Request for Refund

• • Navigate to ‘Refund’ —> ‘Request for Refund’.
  • Select Tax Year, Quarter, and Form Type (138, 140, 141, 143 & 144).

3. Select Challan for Refund

• • System displays available challans with unconsumed balance.
  • Select appropriate challan(s) and specify reason for refund.

4. Form No. 139 Generation

• • TRACES generates Form No. 139 pre-filled with challan data.
  • Download, review, and sign digitally with

5. Refund Processing

• • TDS Assessing Officer or Range head approves the application depending upon the amount of refund in the application.
  • After approval by field formation, CPC-TDS processes the refund.
  • Refund is credited to the validated bank account via CPC-Refund Bank.

6. Rejection of Application: Refund request may be rejected for following reasons:

• • Claim is made for more than the amount of maximum available amount in challan.
  • Mismatch in Bank details.
  • Any other reasons

Outcome of Processed Form No. 139:

For Deductor / Collector/Taxpayer

• Refund of excess TDS/TCS credited electronically to the registered bank account.
• Status can be tracked on TRACES (“Refund Status”).
• Refund may be adjusted against any outstanding demand before issue.

For Department / System

• CPC-TDS automatically updates the challan balance and marks it as “Refunded”.
• Helps maintain accurate credit reconciliation across statements.

Brief Note on Qualitative Changes made:

1. The revised Form No. 139 aims to make refund claims faster, accurate, and system- driven through automation and integration.

2. The form will be a smart one to enhance user experience and providing ease of filing through

a. auto-population/pre-filling of relevant details using information available from the Deductor’s/Taxpayer’s TRACES profile.

b. real time validations & error handling

c. facility to claim multiple challans in one Form, instead of filing separate forms for each quarter or section, where applicable.

d. drop downs & date pickers

e. integration with APIs & Databases

f. Check box based smart verification

g. Standardization of name & address fields etc.

Common Changes made across Forms:

1. To make Forms system-friendly and enable e-filing and uploading, certain anomalies found due to grouping of Name, Designation, Address and PAN have been separated into different boxes.

2. Assessment / Financial / Previous year or years have been replaced with Tax year or years, wherever appearing in the Form/Annexure.

3. Changes in Sections, Clauses and Schedules have been aligned as per the Income-tax Act, 2025.

4. Currency symbol “Rs.” has been replaced with “Z”.