TDS Payment Due Dates and Challan 281: How to Pay on the Income Tax Portal

TDS you deduct in a month must reach the government by the 7th of the following month, and the standard way to pay it is challan ITNS 281 through the e-Pay Tax service on the Income Tax e-Filing portal. March deductions get until 30 April. If you pay late, interest runs at 1.5% per month or part of a month from the date of deduction.

This guide is for business owners, accountants and payroll staff in India who deduct tax at source and need to deposit it correctly. By the end you will know the due dates, which challan and tile to choose, how to create and pay the challan step by step, where to find the receipt, and what to check when something goes wrong. It does not cover the TDS rates themselves or return filing. For those, see TDS return filing: 24Q and 26Q due dates and TDS on salary under section 192.

Dates and portal screens were checked against the Income Tax Department's pages on 31 October 2026. The portal has changed recently because of the new Income Tax Act, 2025, so confirm the screens on your own login.

Who this is for and what you will have at the end

You are a deductor with a TAN who has deducted tax from salaries, contractor payments, rent, professional fees or similar payments. After following this guide you will have a paid challan with a CRN, a downloaded challan receipt showing the payment details, and a clear process to repeat every month.

Prerequisites

• A valid TAN. Deductors register and log in to the e-Filing portal with the TAN.
• Your TDS working: the amount deducted per section, and any interest owed.
• A payment method. The portal lists debit card, credit card, net banking and UPI. Payment through the portal's gateway works only with authorized banks. For other banks the portal points you to NEFT or RTGS.
• For pre-login payment, a mobile number that can receive an OTP.

TDS payment due dates

The deposit deadline for most private deductors is simple.

Official Income Tax Department guidance states that tax deducted must be paid within 7 days after the end of the month of deduction, and that tax deducted in March must be deposited by 30 April. The portal's TDS compliance help page repeats the 30 April date for March 2026 deductions.

Two cautions apply. First, government deductors who pay without a challan have a different rule (they deposit on the day of deduction), so use the rule for your category. Second, if the 7th falls on a bank holiday or weekend, confirm with your bank or the department how the deadline is treated before relying on a later date. Treat the 7th as the safe deadline and pay a few days earlier, especially for card or UPI limits.

Separate deadlines exist for specified one-time transactions such as property purchases (Form 26QB), which use their own challan-cum-statement. Those are outside this guide.

Which challan to use: ITNS 281 or 281N

The portal first asks you to choose the Act. The portal's help page for TAN-login challans gives this split.

In practice, TDS deducted up to 31 March 2026 is still paid under the 1961 Act, even if you pay it in April or later. Deductions from 1 April 2026 fall under the 2025 Act. If you are paying late March 2026 tax, select the 1961 Act.

Choose the right tile

After selecting the Act, the portal shows tiles. For TDS you almost always want the first one.

The major head is 0020 for Corporation Tax (company deductees) and 0021 for Income Tax (other than companies). A regular monthly deposit belongs under minor head 200 (Pay TDS/TCS); minor head 400 is for demands raised by the department.

Step-by-step: pay TDS on the Income Tax portal

Step 1: Open e-Pay Tax

After login, go to e-File and then e-Pay Tax. Alternatively, use the e-Pay Tax link on the e-Filing home page without logging in. For the pre-login route, enter your TAN twice (the second field is Confirm PAN/TAN), enter your mobile number and enter the 6-digit OTP. A success message then shows your TAN and a masked name. Select Continue.

Step 2: Select New Payment and the Act

Under e-Pay Tax, select New Payment. On the Act Selection screen, choose the Income Tax Act, 1961 or the Income Tax Act, 2025 as described above, and select Continue.

Step 3: Select the Pay TDS/TCS tile

Select Pay TDS/TCS. The details you enter depend on the Act.

Under the 1961 Act: select the nature of payment (you can filter by section code) and the major head. Enter tax, surcharge, cess, interest, penalty and fee under section 234E as needed. The help page says only one section code can be chosen per deductee type per challan.

Under the 2025 Act: select the deductee type and its residential status, plus the major head. In TDS/TCS Section-Wise Payment Details you can select up to 20 section codes in a single challan, each with its own tax, surcharge and cess. Enter interest, fee and penalty in Details of Other Payments. You need separate challans for each deductee type and residential status. If you need more than 20 codes, create another challan.

Step 4: Confirm the breakup

On the tax breakup screen, check each amount against your TDS working and select Continue. For the 2025 Act TDS tile the fields on this verification screen are filled in automatically and cannot be edited, so correct mistakes by going back and editing the earlier screen.

Step 5: Choose the payment mode

Pick a payment method on the payment mode page. If your bank is not an authorized gateway bank, use NEFT or RTGS as the portal explains.

Step 6: Preview and pay

In the 2025 Act flow, review everything on the Preview and Make Payment page and select Edit to fix errors. Select Pay Now to be redirected to your bank's payment page, then complete the payment there.

Step 7: Download the receipt

The portal generates a CRN when you create the challan. After payment a success message appears. Download the Challan Receipt from that screen. You also receive an email and SMS at the contact details registered on the portal. Later, log in and open Payment History on the e-Pay Tax page to find past payments and receipts. Select Make Another Payment to start a new challan.

The receipt carries the details you need later. Save it with your monthly TDS records. The CRN is generated at creation, but this page does not state how long a CRN stays valid, so complete payment in the same session rather than assuming it will wait.

Late payment interest

Interest on TDS defaults is charged under section 201(1A) of the 1961 Act, as described in the Income Tax Department's guidance:

• Tax not deducted (or deducted short): 1% for every month or part of a month, from the date the tax was deductible to the date it was deducted.
• Tax deducted but not deposited: 1.5% for every month or part of a month, from the date of deduction to the date it was actually deposited.

Because part of a month counts as a full month, even a short delay past the due date means interest for at least one full month on the unpaid tax, counted from the date of deduction. A department FAQ gives the example of March 2026 tax deposited in May 2026, which attracts interest at 1.5% per month from the date of deduction to the date of payment.

For example, suppose you deducted Rs. 20,000 of tax on 20 June and deposited it on 9 July. The deposit was due on 7 July, but interest runs from 20 June to 9 July, which is less than one full month and so counts as one month, so 1 x 1.5% x Rs. 20,000 = Rs. 300. Had the deposit been made on 25 July, the period would span two months (20 June to 20 July, then part of the next), giving 2 x 1.5% x Rs. 20,000 = Rs. 600. Pay that interest in the Interest field of the same challan so it is recorded against the same payment.

The department's FAQ also discusses 2025 Act equivalents of these provisions. Since the section numbers differ from the 1961 Act, check the current text for deductions made on or after 1 April 2026.

Late filing of the TDS statement attracts a separate fee under section 234E, and the 1961 Act challan has a field for it. That fee relates to the statement, not the deposit.

Verify the payment

1. Open e-File > e-Pay Tax > Payment History and confirm the payment is listed.
2. Check the downloaded receipt for the amount, section or nature of payment, assessment year or tax year, and bank details.
3. Check the email and SMS confirmation.
4. When you file your TDS statement, quote the challan details exactly as shown on the receipt. The portal's TDS compliance help page explains that credits to deductees are mapped from the filed statement and that mismatches are fixed when the deductor files a revised statement.

If you use Tally Prime or other accounting software, record the payment in the software with the same challan details so the statement preparation picks it up. Use the receipt as the source, not the bank debit narration.

Troubleshooting

The payment was debited but no receipt appeared

Open Payment History on the e-Pay Tax page after some time. If the payment does not appear, keep the bank debit proof and contact the bank and the e-Filing helpdesk. Do not pay the same challan again until you have confirmed the first payment failed.

You paid under the wrong tile or Act

This guide could not verify a self-service way to change a challan after payment, so check the preview before selecting Pay Now. If you have already paid under the wrong details, ask your jurisdictional assessing officer or the bank how to request a correction. The portal's TDS compliance page notes that corrections for old-Act periods stay on the old-Act formats.

You need more than 20 section codes

Under the 2025 Act a challan accepts at most 20 section codes. Create another challan for the remaining ones, and use separate challans for Company and Other than Company deductees.

Pay Outstanding Demand is missing

That tile is not available in the pre-login flow under either Act. Log in with your TAN to use it.

Your bank is not on the gateway list

The portal's gateway works only with authorized banks. Use NEFT or RTGS as provided by the RBI, or download the challan form and pay at a bank branch, as the manual describes.

Monthly checklist

• Total the tax deducted per section by the end of each month.
• Pay by the 7th, or 30 April for March.
• Select the correct Act, tile, deductee type and section.
• Include any interest in the same challan.
• Download and file the receipt, and record it in your books.
• Match the challan details when you prepare the quarterly TDS statement.

References

• Challan Creation through TAN Login (Income Tax e-Filing help)
• TDS Compliance (Income Tax e-Filing help)
• Interest for delay in payment of TDS/TCS (Income Tax Department)
• E-payment of direct taxes (Income Tax Department)
• TDS on Rent by Certain Individual or HUF (Income Tax Department)