TDS on Dividend on Equity Shares

Applicable:

This Section is applicable from 1st April, 2020 i.e. financial year 2020-21 onwards.

Legal Content:

The principal officer of an Indian company or a company which has made the prescribed arrangements for the declaration and payment of dividends (including dividends on preference shares) within India, shall, before making any payment by any mode in respect of any dividend or before making any distribution or payment to a shareholder, who is resident in India, of any dividend within the meaning of sub-clause (a) or sub-clause (b) or sub-clause (c) or sub-clause (d) or sub-clause (e) of clause (22) of section 2, deduct from the amount of such dividend, income-tax at the rate of ten per cent:

Provided that no such deduction shall be made in the case of a shareholder, being an individual, if—

(a) the dividend is paid by the company by any mode other than cash; and

(b) the amount of such dividend or, as the case may be, the aggregate of the amounts of such dividend distributed or paid or likely to be distributed or paid during the financial year by the company to the shareholder, does not exceed 36[five thousand] rupees:

Provided further that the provisions of this section shall not apply to such income credited or paid to—

(a) the Life Insurance Corporation of India established under the Life Insurance Corporation Act, 1956 (31 of 1956), in respect of any shares owned by it or in which it has full beneficial interest;

(b) the General Insurance Corporation of India (hereafter in this proviso referred to as the Corporation) or to any of the four companies (hereafter in this proviso referred to as such company), formed by virtue of the schemes framed under sub-section (1) of section 16 of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 (57 of 1972), in respect of any shares owned by the Corporation or such company or in which the Corporation or such company has full beneficial interest;

(c) any other insurer in respect of any shares owned by it or in which it has full beneficial interest.

For Understanding

Deductor

The company distributing dividends to the investors of equity shares should deduct TDS on such dividends. The deductor must deposit the TDS and file the TDS Return on TRACES.

Deductee

Shareholder resident in India earning dividend income on equity shares will receive the amount after TDS under Sec 194. Shareholder resident in India earning dividend income on equity mutual funds will receive the amount after TDS under Section 194K. NRI investors/shareholders, earning dividend income will receive the amount after deduction of TDS under Section 195.

Nature of Payment

Sec 194 covers the payment of Dividend on Equity Shares to a resident shareholder exceeding INR 5000 in a financial year.

Time of Payment

TDS shall be deducted at the time of credit of income to payee account or at the time of payment, whichever is earlier. If the payee of the amount credits the amount to be paid to “suspense account” or any other account, it is considered as ‘deemed payment’ and the payer must deduct TDS on such credit.

Rate

Deductor should deduct TDS u/s 194 at the rate of 10% if the dividend amount exceeds INR 5000. If the payee does not provide the PAN, TDS shall be deducted at the rate of 20%

TDS Certificate

Deductor shall issue Form 16A to the deductee as the Tax Credit Certificate of the amount deducted as TDS. The Deductor can download Form 16A from the account on TRACES. Using Form 16A, the deductee can claim credit of the tax deducted while filing Income Tax Return.

TDS Return

After depositing TDS with the income tax department, the deductor should file Form 26Q on TRACES. The details of the dividend payment are part of this report. The deductor, after filing the report, should provide Form 16A to the deductee.