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A finance executive sees TDS deducted in the bank receipt but no credit in Form 26AS and does not know which step failed.
Credit needs four links: challan deposited, quarterly return filed with that challan and your PAN, department matching, posting to Form 26AS or Form 168.
For each customer deduction: date, amount, customer TAN, and once known, challan identifiers and return acknowledgement.
Each missing credit pinned to the link that failed, and a specific ask to the customer.
A TDS credit appears in your statement only after four steps: the deductor deposits a challan, reports it in a quarterly return with your PAN, the department matches the two, and the credit is posted to Form 26AS (or Form 168 from tax year 2026-27). The TDS certificate is the paper proof of that chain, not the chain itself.
The four documents
| Document | Who creates it | What it proves | Where you can see it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Challan (ITNS 281) | Deductor, through its bank | Money reached the government | Bank receipt; challan status on the portal |
| Quarterly TDS return | Deductor | Which PAN the money belongs to | TRACES, deductor side |
| TDS certificate | Generated from TRACES after processing | Your copy of the deduction | Given to you by the deductor |
| Form 26AS / Form 168 | Income Tax Department | Credit is available to you | Your e-filing account |
At which step can a credit fail to appear?
- Not deposited. The customer deducted but never paid the challan.
- Wrong challan identifiers. The return quotes a BSR code, date or serial number that does not match a real challan.
- Wrong PAN. Your credit went to someone else’s PAN, or to an invalid one.
- Return not filed. The money sits with the government but no return says it is yours.
- Wrong quarter. It was reported in a different quarter than you expected, so you are looking in the wrong place.
Worked example: a timeline
A customer deducts ₹10,000 TDS on 15 May from a ₹1,00,000 payment to you.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 15 May | Deduction; you receive ₹90,000 (before GST) and book ₹10,000 TDS Receivable |
| 7 June | Deadline for the customer to deposit the challan |
| 31 July | Deadline for the customer’s Q1 (April to June) return |
| After processing | Credit of ₹10,000 shows in your statement |
| 15 August | Deadline for the customer to issue the Q1 certificate |
If you check your statement on 20 June and see nothing, that is normal; the return is not due yet. If you check in September and see nothing, start asking.
What should you ask a customer for when a credit is missing?
Ask for three things:
- The challan identifiers: BSR code, deposit date and serial number.
- The amount and section or payment code used.
- The acknowledgement number of the quarterly return that included your PAN.
With these, the customer can see which link broke and file a correction.
What to read next
- Next in the series: TDS receivable ledger reconciliation
- TDS credit leakage in Form 26AS
- Form 26AS vs Form 168
TransactIG reconciles your TDS receivable ledger against the credit statement, so missing credits appear in an exception queue with the customer named. See TDS reconciliation software and reconciliation software for India.