Income Tax Form 149 (Earlier 26A): CA Certificate to Avoid Assessee-in-Default Status

Form No. 149 is an electronic application filed by a deductor under section 398(2) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 to seek relief from being treated as an “assessee in default” for failure to deduct tax at source. It applies where the deductee has already included the relevant income in their return, filed the return, and paid the due taxes. The form requires certification from a Chartered Accountant in Annexure A confirming these conditions. Upon acceptance, the deductor is not treated as in default for the tax amount, though liability to pay interest from the date tax was deductible until the date of return filing by the deductee continues. The form is filed through TRACES and the e-filing portal, involving assignment to a Chartered Accountant and verification of details. It facilitates rectification of TDS defaults while ensuring compliance through documented verification of tax payment by the deductee.

Income Tax Department
Ministry of Finance, Government of India

FAQs on Income Tax Form 149 (Earlier Form No. 26A): Form for furnishing accountant certificate under section 398(2) of Income-tax Act, 2025 for person responsible for deduction of tax not to be deemed to be an assessee in default

Form for furnishing Accountant Certificate under section 398(2) of the Income-tax Act, 2025

Q1. What is Form No. 149 and its purpose?

Ans: Form No. 149 offers an option to remove or rectify TDS defaults for failure to deduct tax at source, thus granting relief from being deemed to be an ‘Assessee in Default’. If for some reason, a deductor fails to deduct tax at source on a certain payment but the deductee discharges the tax liability on such amount by filing a return of income and paying the due taxes, then the deductor can e-file Form No. 149. It includes a certificate in Annexure A, from an Accountant confirming the fact that the deductee has

a. filed an ITR

b. by including income which was not subjected to TDS, and

c. paid tax on such income.

Q2. Who is required to file Form No. 149?

Ans: This form is required to be filed by a deductor in a case where there was a failure on his part to deduct tax at source, however the tax liability was discharged by the deductee. It can be filed by the deductor before the Assessing Officer for not deeming him as an assessee in default in respect of the amount on which he failed to deduct tax.

Q3. Does filing Form No. 149 eliminate all the liabilities of the deductor?

Ans: No. If Form No. 149 is accepted by the Assessing Officer, then the deductor is not deemed to be an assessee in default in respect of tax amount he failed to deduct. However, the deductor is still required to pay the interest amount calculated from the date on which such tax was deductible to the date of furnishing of return of income by the concerned deductee.

Q4. What details are certified by the accountant in Annexure A of Form No. 149? Ans: The accountant certifies that:

• The deductee has filed the return of income u/s 263.
• The income on which tax was not deducted by the deductor has been included such return of income.
• The deductee has paid the tax due on the income declared by him in such return of income.

Q5. Is Form No. 149 applicable only in respect of resident deductees?

Ans: No. This form can be filed by the deductor for failure to deduct tax from both a resident or non-resident deductee.

Q6. What is the mode of filing Form No. 149?

Ans: Filing of Form No. 149 is to be initiated by the deductor on TRACES website. The request will be transmitted to the e-filing portal of Income-tax Department. The deductor will assign the same to the Chartered Accountant on e-filing portal. The Chartered Accountant will issue the certificate in Annexure A on e-filing portal. Thereafter, the deductor will submit the application in Form No. 149 on e-filing portal, which will be processed at TRACES.

Q7. How will the deductor know whether the Form No. 149 submitted by him has been successfully submitted to the Income-tax Department?

Ans: After filing Form No. 149 on the e-filing portal of Income-tax Department, the deductor receives an Acknowledgment Number on successful submission of the Form.

Guidance Note on Income Tax Form 149 (Earlier Form No. 26A): Form for furnishing accountant certificate under section 398(2) of Income-tax Act, 2025 for person responsible for deduction of tax not to be deemed to be an assessee in default

Form No. 149 (Earlier Form No. 26A)

Form No. 149 – Form for furnishing certificate of accountant under section 398(2) of the Act

Purpose:

This form is required when a deductor has failed to deduct tax, but the payee has already taken the income into account and paid taxes thereon.

It is used to establish that the deductor is not deemed to be in default under 398(2) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.

As per 221 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026:

“For the purposes of 398(2), the certificate from an accountant shall be furnished electronically in Form No. 149 to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by him.”

Who should file:

• Form No. 149: To be filed by a deductor (payer) who fails to deduct tax at source on a certain payment but the deductee discharges the tax liability on such amount by filing a return of income and paying the due taxes, then the deductor can e-file Form No. 149.

• These forms are used to certify that the deductee has:

1. filed an ITR

2. by including income which was not subjected to TDS, and

3. paid tax on such income.

Once certified, the deductor is not treated as an assessee-in-default, though interest under section 398 may still apply.

Frequency & Due Dates:

Form No. 149 should be filed as and when such a case arises where:

• Tax was not deducted or was deducted short, and
• The deductor seeks relief from being treated as in default under section 398.

It should be submitted electronically through TRACES, after obtaining a Chartered Accountant (CA) certificate in the prescribed format.

Structure of Form No. 149:

1. Part A:

• Particulars of the Payer – Name, Address, PAN and TAN.
• Particulars of the person responsible for paying – Name, Address and PAN.
• Particulars of the Payee – Name, Address and PAN.
• Particulars of Transactions – Amount paid/credited, Interest, Interest paid or not, Challan/BIN details (if Interest paid).

2. Declaration

3. Annexure A – Accountant’s Certification

• Verification that deductee has included the income in its return.
• Date of filing of return, acknowledgement number, and computation reference.
• Details of tax paid by deductee.
• Declaration and signature of Chartered Accountant with Membership No.

Documents/details required to file the Form No. 149:

To file Form No. 149 the following are typically needed:

1. TAN & PAN of Deductor and PAN of Deductee

2. Acknowledgment number and date of Deductee’s Income-tax Return (ITR)

3. Tax computation and proof of payment by Deductee

4. Details of payment/transaction where TDS was missed

5. CA Certificate in the prescribed format (digitally signed)

6. Supporting documents, if any, for verification through TRACES portal.

Form No. 149 (Earlier Form No. 26A)

Filing Count:

On average, about 900 such forms were filed annually over the last five years.

Process flow of filing Form No. 149:

1. Initiate Request on TRACES:

• Deductor logs into the TRACES portal, raises a “Request for Form No. 149” by selecting the financial year, form type, and transaction type (short/non-deduction).
• A Unique Request Number (URN) is generated. The status transitions from Requested → Upload File → Submitted → Sent to E-Filing → Processed/Rejection, etc.

2. Prepare & Upload the File:

• Deductor downloads the prescribed .csv template and utility (“TRACES-Sample-149”), fills details (PAN, amounts, etc.), runs it through the utility to generate a .nzip file, and uploads it on TRACES. List of PANs with short deduction will be available to the Deductor. He can mention the PANs where deductor does not deduct any TDS at all.
• Digital Signature (DSC) or I-PIN authentication is required for submission.

3. Assigning a Chartered Accountant:

• After TRACES processes the request, the deductor moves to the Income-tax e-Filing portal, goes to “Submit and View Form 149”, and assigns a CA by inputting their membership number.

4. CA Certification (Annexure A):

• The CA logs into their e-Filing account, reviews the request, downloads/upload relevant Annexure A files, verifies compliance (e.g., payee filed return, tax paid), signs the certification, and submits.

Outcome of Processed Form No. 149:

• CPC-TDS processes the certificate if the demand has been raised by the CPC-TDS.
• AO(TDS) processes the certificate if the manual demand raised/398 order passed by the AO(TDS).

Form No. 149 (Earlier Form No. 26A)

• If matched with deductee’s ITR and tax paid records, the demand for default is nullified and Deductor will be treated as “Assessee not in default”.
• CPC-TDS / AO(TDS) recalculates and issues a demand or relief; the deductor can then view the updated status and any adjustments (like reduced interest or corrected demand).

• Even after filing of Form No. 149, deductor is liable to pay interest @ 1% per month from the date TDS was deductible → till the date of actual tax payment by deductee.
• Penalty u/s 412, 448 or prosecution u/s 476 may not apply if Form No. 149 is furnished and accepted.

Brief note on qualitative changes made:

The revised Form No. 149 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 TRACES profile.

b. real time validations & error handling

c. drop downs & date pickers

d. integration with APIs & Databases

e. Check box based smart verification

f. 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 “₹”.