Lesson 50 of 53 · TDS on FD interest · 3 min read · Reviewed 29 Oct 2026
When a bank or post office pays you more than ₹50,000 of interest in a year, or ₹1 lakh if you are 60 or older, under section 393 of the Income-tax Act 2025 (194A of the 1961 Act). If your tax for the year will be nil, a declaration on Form 121, which replaced Forms 15G and 15H from 1 Apr 2026, stops the deduction.
Banks deduct tax once your interest crosses ₹50,000 in a year, or ₹1 lakh for senior citizens.
Without a PAN, tax is deducted at a higher rate.
If your total tax will be nil, give the bank a declaration on Form 121. It replaced Forms 15G and 15H from 1 Apr 2026.
Key idea: TDS isn’t the final tax. Interest is taxed at your slab rate, and the deduction is credited against it.
Tax rules as of 29 Oct 2026, checked on incometaxindia.gov.in.
Try the short quiz on this page to check what stuck.
Only if their year’s interest is within the basic exemption limit and their tax is nil.
The test is only that tax on total income is nil.
In Form 26AS or the Annual Information Statement on the tax portal.
For learning only, not investment advice. Built in India by a team that tracks its own money on Reva.