🎓 Finance
Form 15G/15H: Save TDS on FD Interest — Eligibility and How to Fill
The bank is cutting TDS on your FD interest even though your income is nowhere near the taxable limit? Submitting Form 15G/15H stops the bank from deducting TDS. The ₹50,000/₹1 lakh thresholds, the difference between 15G and 15H, a field-by-field filling guide and penalties for false declarations — a complete guide.
Scenario: Your parents’ life savings are in fixed deposits. The annual interest is ₹60,000 — the bank deducts 10% TDS of ₹6,000. Yet their total income never reaches the taxable limit — meaning they owe no tax at all, but now their money for the whole year sits blocked with the government, waiting for a refund. The government’s own route to avoid this irrational blockage is Form 15G and Form 15H — and forgetting to submit this form is what causes thousands of rupees to get stuck for lakhs of families across the country.
1. TDS thresholds and rates at a glance
| Situation | The bank’s action |
|---|---|
| Interest in a year ≤ ₹50,000 (below 60 years) | No TDS |
| Interest > ₹50,000, with PAN | 10% TDS |
| Interest > ₹1,00,000, senior 60+, with PAN | TDS begins (10%) |
| PAN not furnished | 20% TDS |
| 15G/15H submitted, conditions met | No TDS |
The threshold covers not just FDs — interest from recurring deposits (RD), the Senior Citizens’ Savings Scheme and so on is also aggregated for the same bank. If money is split across different banks, 15G/15H must be submitted separately to each bank.
2. Who can submit which form
| Condition | Form 15G | Form 15H |
|---|---|---|
| Age | Below 60 (HUFs too) | 60 or above |
| Total tax liability | Nil | Nil |
| Total income (including interest) | Must be below the basic exemption limit | OK even above the limit (if tax is nil) |
| Special example | Interest ₹60,000 + no other income → 15G cannot be given (total income above the limit) | The same person at 60+ can give 15H — because with the ₹50,000 80TTB deduction, the tax is nil |
For seniors, combined with the ₹50,000 interest deduction under 80TTB, 15H works almost every time — which is why 15H is the first choice in senior households.
3. Step by step: how to submit the form
- Choose your timing: submit at the very start of the financial year (April) — then TDS stops before interest accrues across the year. It can be given mid-year too; deduction stops on interest after that.
- The online route (easiest): bank’s net-banking → ‘Service Requests’ → ‘Form 15G/15H’ → fill in PAN, the estimated interest and other-income fields and submit — at many banks this can be completed from the mobile app.
- The offline route: fill the bank’s form (or the income-tax portal’s specimen) and submit at the branch — it applies once per bank, not per branch.
- What to fill in: name, PAN, financial year, address, whether a return was filed last year, estimated total income, and whether the form has been given anywhere else (the Section 21 field).
- It’s needed elsewhere too: post office deposits, company FDs/debentures, advance interest on rent — a separate form must be given to each payer.
- It must be renewed every financial year — submitting once is not for life.
4. The most common mistakes while filling the fields
- Section 21 (other forms submitted): when giving it at multiple banks, tick ‘Yes’ on each form and write the number — wrongly writing ‘No’ creates data-matching problems with the tax department.
- The total income field: add up the estimated income from all sources and write it — writing zero is a false declaration.
- PAN-name matching: if spellings differ, the form hangs in the bank’s records.
- If not eligible for 15G, look for 15H: for seniors the 15H conditions are relaxed — many give up when they can’t submit 15G, though 15H is the real solution for them.
5. The risk of false declaration and recovering deducted money
- If your income is taxable and you still submit 15G/15H, there are penalty provisions under Section 277, up to imprisonment — the form is a legal declaration.
- Even so, if TDS was deducted by mistake: file your ITR and take the refund; if there is taxable income, that TDS is adjusted against your tax liability — the money isn’t lost, it’s just blocked.
- Check in Form 26AS or the income-tax portal’s AIS how much TDS each bank deducted — plan the year-end in step with tax guides such as ours.
Remember: 15G/15H doesn’t save money — it stops money from being blocked. If you have no taxable income, the rule is to get the form to the bank in the first week of April itself.
For interest calculations on FDs/deposits, use the Post Office Scheme Calculator and other calculators.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Above what interest does the bank deduct TDS?
If the interest across all branches of one bank exceeds ₹50,000 in a year, 10% TDS is deducted; for senior citizens aged over 60, the threshold is ₹1,00,000. If PAN is not furnished, 20% is deducted.
What is the difference between Form 15G and 15H?
15G — for individuals below 60 and HUFs; the conditions: total tax is nil and total income including interest is below the basic exemption limit. 15H — only for Indian residents aged 60+; the condition is relaxed: it is enough that total tax is nil, even if total income is above the limit.
Where is the form submitted?
At the bank where the FD is held. Nearly every bank's net-banking/mobile app has a 'Form 15G/15H submission' option — submitting online is effortless. For post office deposits it goes to the post office, and for company debentures separately to that company.
If TDS has already been deducted, can the money be recovered?
Yes — on filing an ITR, if your taxable income is proven to be nil, the deducted TDS is fully refunded. But the refund takes months and your interest income stays blocked all year — so it's better to stop TDS in advance with 15G/15H.