Heavy TDS will be deducted on FD interest! To save tax, complete this important task first in April.

The new financial year 2026-27 has started and with it the time has also come for new planning regarding your earnings and investments. Even today, Fixed Deposit (FD) is considered the most preferred and safe option for investment among Indian families. But do you know that the bank can impose TDS on the handsome earnings from your FD? If you want that not a single rupee of your profit should be deducted in tax, then you should complete a very important task in the beginning of this month of April. Let us know what is this surefire way to avoid TDS. What is the rule for deducting TDS on FD? According to income tax rules, if the interest received from your FD deposited in a bank, post office or co-operative bank exceeds Rs 40,000 in a financial year, then the bank deducts 10% TDS on it. In the case of senior citizens, this exemption limit is up to Rs 50,000. If you have not linked your PAN card with the bank account, then this TDS gets deducted directly at 20%. Therefore, it is very important to stop this deduction in time to protect the profits. Form 15G and 15H are the real weapons to save tax. If your total annual income falls within the Basic Exemption Limit of Income Tax and you feel that TDS can be deducted unnecessarily on your FD income, then you should immediately submit ‘Form 15G’ or ‘Form 15H’ in your bank. This form gives a self-declaration to the bank that your total income is not taxable, hence no TDS should be deducted from your interest. Know who should fill which form? The basic function of both these forms is the same, but the Income Tax Department has divided them on the basis of age. If your age is less than 60 years (ie you are not a senior citizen) and your total income is not taxable, then you have to submit ‘Form 15G’ to the bank to save TDS. On the other hand, senior citizens aged 60 years or above have to fill ‘Form 15H’ in the bank to avoid TDS deduction. Why is this work most important in the month of April? Financial experts advise that this declaration form should always be submitted in the beginning of the financial year i.e. in the first week of April. Actually, banks usually credit interest to your account every quarter and TDS is also deducted at the same time. If you submit this form at the end of the year, the bank may have already deducted TDS for the initial quarters. Although you can get a refund of the deducted TDS later by filing Income Tax Return (ITR), the smartest way to avoid this long and troublesome refund process is to finalize your work in April itself. Nowadays almost all banks provide the facility to submit these forms online from home through net banking or mobile app.