Paying ₹50K+ rent? CA flags urgent April 30 deadline most tenants are blindly missing

You may think you’re just a tenant. But if your rent crosses ₹50,000 a month, the Income Tax Department sees you as a tax deductor too.

That’s right—if you paid over ₹50,000/month in FY 2024–25, you’re required to deduct TDS and file Form 26QC by April 30, 2025, warns CA Niyati Shah in a LinkedIn post. 

The compliance applies whether you’ve opted for the old or new tax regime and even if you’re a salaried professional.

Under Section 194-IB of the Income Tax Act, individuals or HUFs not subject to tax audit must deduct TDS on rent paid to a resident Indian. Here’s the rate structure for FY25:

• 5% for rent paid from April 1 to September 30, 2024
• 2% for rent paid from October 1, 2024, onward

The deduction must happen when you either pay or credit the rent for the final month of the financial year—or if the tenancy ends earlier, then at that point.

After deducting TDS, you must:

• File Form 26QC within 30 days (April 30, 2025, is the deadline for FY 2024–25)
• Issue Form 16C to your landlord within 15 days of filing the return (by May 15, 2025)

No TAN is needed—your PAN will suffice. But if your landlord doesn’t share their PAN, the TDS shoots up to 20%, capped at the final month’s rent.

Non-compliance is costly: delays in deduction attract 1% interest/month, and failure to deposit TDS incurs 1.5%/month. Filing late? Be ready to pay ₹200/day, and up to ₹1 lakh in penalties for major delays.

As Shah sums it up: “Your home may be your comfort zone… but your rent is a compliance zone too.”