I am a senior citizen now and need help to understand what Form 15H is and when will I need it?

Ram Charan, Noida

Simply put, Form 15H is needed to be submitted to make sure TDS is not deducted on your income if you meet certain stipulated conditions and are valid for the applicable financial year, which means you will need to submit the form every year if you are eligible and it would be prudent to submit these in the beginning of a financial year to ensure that banks does not deduct any TDS on your interest income. To qualify for Form 15H, you need to be a senior citizen, resident Indian and your total interest income for the year is less than the minimum exemption limit of that year. Moreover, you should have a PAN before applying for this form. In case you do forget to submit the form and the bank does deduct TDS, you could file your income tax return to claim refund of TDS, which is possible only when you are filing your income tax return as banks or other any other institutions that has deducted TDS cannot refund TDS to you. Income tax department will refund excess TDS only after you file an income tax return.

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