How to Pay TDS Online with Challan 281 and 281N (2026)

Choosing the wrong challan or year is the most common mistake. The payment still reaches the government, but it won't match your TDS return, and you'll get a short-payment default until the challan is corrected.

1. Log in to the income tax e-filing portal with your TAN, or use e-Pay Tax without login using TAN and an OTP.
2. Go to e-File → e-Pay Tax → New Payment.
3. Select the applicable Act, then the TDS/TCS tile (281N for tax year 2026-27 onwards, 281 for earlier years).
4. Choose the deductee type: company deductees or non-company deductees. This is the minor head that confuses most people. Pick it by who you deducted from, not who you are.
5. Select the year, the type of payment (TDS payable by taxpayer, or regular assessment raised by the department) and the nature of payment / section code, such as salary, contractors, rent or professional fees.
6. Enter the amount split into tax, surcharge, cess, interest, fee and penalty. Interest and late fee go in their own boxes.
7. Pay by net banking, debit card, UPI, payment gateway, or over the counter / RTGS-NEFT using the generated challan form.
8. Download the challan receipt. Note the BSR code, date of deposit and challan serial number, which together make the CIN you'll quote in the TDS return.

Make one challan per section code where you can. It makes the quarterly return far easier to reconcile.

• TDS deducted in April to February: by the 7th of the following month.
• TDS deducted in March: by 30 April.
• Government deductors paying without challan: the same day as the deduction.
• TDS on purchase of property, and rent paid by individuals not liable to audit: within 30 days from the end of the month of deduction, using the combined challan-cum-statement (Form 141 for property from 1 April 2026). Our post on income tax notices on property purchases explains why buyers get caught here.

The calendar view, with quarterly returns, is in TDS payment deadlines.

"Part of a month" counts as a full month. TDS of ₹50,000 deducted on 28 June and deposited on 8 July is late by one day past the 7th, but runs across two calendar months from deduction, so the interest is 1.5% × 2 = ₹1,500. Pay the interest in the same or a separate challan before filing the return. On top of interest, a late TDS return attracts a fee of ₹200 a day (capped at the TDS amount), and the expense on which TDS wasn't paid can be partly disallowed in your income tax computation.

A challan on its own doesn't give the deductee credit. The credit only appears in their Form 26AS / AIS once you file the quarterly TDS return quoting the challan details against each deductee. Check the challan status on the e-filing portal or TRACES before filing. Our guides to filing the TDS return and TRACES cover the next step.

Wrong assessment year, minor head or section code? Some fields can be corrected online on TRACES with a digital signature or EVC within the allowed time. Otherwise the request goes to your jurisdictional assessing officer. Don't pay again, as a second payment won't fix the mismatch. TaxQue's TDS return filing service handles monthly challans, quarterly returns and corrections for businesses.