TAN Registration

Overview

A Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number (TAN) is a 10-character alphanumeric identifier issued by the Income Tax Department to anyone who has to deduct or collect tax at source. It must appear on every TDS or TCS statement, on every deposit challan and on the certificates given to payees such as Form 16 and Form 16A. Without a TAN, the statements cannot be filed and banks will not accept the deposit.

A TAN has four letters, five digits and one letter, for example ABCD12345E. It is different from PAN, which identifies a taxpayer. A TAN has lifetime validity and does not need renewal, but details must be updated when they change. The application is made on Form 49B.

Who needs it

• Employers deducting tax on salary.
• Companies, firms, LLPs, trusts, societies and NGOs deducting tax on rent, contractor, commission or professional payments.
• Individuals and HUFs who must deduct tax on specified payments, for example business owners paying rent above the limit.
• Banks, government offices and others paying interest or other specified amounts.
• E-commerce and other sellers collecting TCS; the same TAN serves both TDS and TCS.
• New businesses that expect to start deducting tax soon, as a voluntary early step.

Salaried individuals who are not deducting tax from others do not need a TAN. Individuals deducting tax on a property purchase or on specified rent use challan-cum-statement forms and do not need a TAN for that.

What Zenith does

We start by listening: what you pay, to whom and whether a TAN already exists for the business. If one already exists, we avoid a duplicate and help you correct it instead. We then confirm scope, share a tailored quotation and a document checklist, and assign a relationship manager.

• Check that the PAN is active and that the entity details match the PAN records.
• Prepare Form 49B with the right deductor category, address and responsible person details.
• Submit the application on the authorised portal, pay the government fee and track it using the acknowledgement number.
• Share the TAN allotment, and guide you to register the TAN on the income tax e-filing portal.
• Raise change or correction requests when entity name, address or responsible person changes.

You receive milestone updates until the TAN is allotted and active.

Eligibility and key rules

• Legal basis: Section 203A requires every person who deducts or collects tax to obtain a TAN.
• Application: Form 49B, online through the authorised intermediaries (NSDL, now Protean, or UTIITSL), or on paper.
• Branches: branches or divisions that deduct tax independently may need their own TAN. Zenith confirms how your structure should apply.
• One TAN per deductor is the aim; duplicates cause credit mismatches, so check before applying.
• Responsible person: the application names the person responsible for deduction (a director, partner, karta or proprietor).
• Activation: after allotment the TAN has to be registered on the income tax e-filing portal before TDS statements can be filed online.
• Changes: name, address and category changes are made through a correction request, not a fresh TAN.

Documents required

Entity	Documents (per the sources read)
Individual or proprietor	PAN, Aadhaar, address proof, photograph
Company	Certificate of incorporation, company PAN, registered office proof
Partnership firm or LLP	Firm PAN, deed or LLP agreement, address proof
Trust, society or NGO	Registration certificate or trust deed, PAN, address proof
HUF	HUF PAN, Aadhaar of the karta, address proof
Government entity	Office ID and address proof

You also provide the PAN and name of the person responsible for deduction. Zenith advises the exact documents that the authorised portal needs at the time.

Process and timeline

1. Scoping and quotation; you upload the checklist documents.
2. We confirm there is no existing TAN and prepare Form 49B.
3. The application is submitted and the fee paid; an acknowledgement number is generated.
4. If the process requires a signed acknowledgement, it is sent to the processing office within the time allowed (one source read mentions 15 days).
5. The department issues the TAN allotment, which public sources put at about 7 to 15 working days for online applications.
6. We guide you through registering the TAN on the e-filing portal and linking it to your profile.

The timeline depends on completeness, accuracy of details and authority processing.

Government fees, penalties and due dates

Item	Rule
Application fee, Form 49B	₹65 plus 18% GST, about ₹77 in total
Validity	Lifetime; no renewal
Failure to apply for or quote TAN	Penalty of ₹10,000 under Section 272BB

The TAN must be obtained before the first deduction or collection. Missing it can also block TDS statements, certificates and deposits.

Amounts and dates above reflect public sources read in October 2026 and change with notifications, so Zenith confirms the current figures in your quotation.

Common mistakes

• Applying for a new TAN when one already exists for the entity.
• Using the wrong deductor category.
• Entering a PAN or name that does not match the PAN database.
• Not registering the TAN on the e-filing portal after allotment.
• Quoting a wrong TAN on challans or statements.
• Not updating a change of address or responsible person.
• Forgetting to send a required signed acknowledgement in time.

FAQs