Income Tax Payment Challan (Guide)

Taxpayers pay their taxes online through challans. Different types of challans are there to pay different types of taxes. The most commonly used challan types are ITNS 280 and ITNS 281. The ITNS No. 281 challan is used by the taxpayer to pay TDS/TCS taxes. Whereas, ITNS no. 281 is used to deposit the non-TDS/TCS taxes. Both of these can be filed and paid online as well as offline. 

This article will explain the Income tax payment challan methods for ITNS 281, receipt generation and download, etc.

What is Itns 280 challan?

Challan no 280 is a form for paying advance tax, self-assessment tax, tax on regular assessment, Surtax, Tax on Distributed Profits of Domestic Companies, and Tax on Distributed income to unit holders. 

It is a Non-TDS/TCS form of tax. The payment using challan 280 can be made online as well as offline. We will discuss it later in this article.

How do I save a challan as a PDF?

To download challan No 280 or any challan as a PDF follow these steps:

1. Go to this website of the tax information Network of the Income Tax Department.
2.  Click on the tab Downloads.
3. Then select the challan you need to download and enter.
4. The file will open in a pdf viewer you have on your browser. 
5. Then, Click on the download symbol to download the file.
6. The file will be downloaded to your system.

How to pay challan for income tax?

You can pay the challan through net banking, NEFT, IMPS, or by visiting the authorized bank and paying it there in cash. The online payment facility is available on the e-filing portal of the Income tax Department of India.

Note:

The following banks have been migrated from the OLTAS e-Payment of Taxes facility to the e-Pay Tax facility of the E-Filing portal. 

Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Indian Overseas Bank. 

Users are advised to navigate to e-Pay Tax at https://www.incometax.gov.in/ to make direct tax payments.

Let’s cover the online and offline methods of payment for challan no 281 which is for the payment of TDS/TCS.

How to pay challan 281 online?

The taxpayer can pay TDS through two portals: NSDL and the Government Income Tax Portal. We will cover the TDS payment through the Government Income Tax Portal in this article.

Follow this step-by-step approach to pay challan 281 online:

1. Log in to your account at www.incometax.gov.in/iec.
2. Go to the menu, select “e-file” and click on “e-Pay Tax”.
3. On the right side of the payment page, Tap on New Payment.
4. Select the relevant assessment year.
5. Tap on Proceed in the pay TDS section.
6. Select the relevant options and click on Continue.
7. Select the Tax applicably (Major Head) other than non-deductees (0021) for non-corporates or company deductee (0020) for corporates. 
8. Go through the multiple pages and search for the sections you must fill.
9. Now, fill up the TDS Payable under relevant heads like tax, cess, surcharge etc.
10. Select the payment type option best suited for you from net banking, debit card, RTGS, pay at the bank and then click on Continue.
11. Check the details carefully on the preview page, before hitting the pay and submit button.
12. Pay the amount and collect the receipt generated after the successful transaction. This counterfoil has CIN, payment details, and bank name as proof of your payment.
13. Now Download the challan copy.

For the second method of online payment head to our other article on TDS Payment Online.

How to fill challan 281 offline?

To pay the TDS/TCS offline follow this step-by-step approach:

1. Go to this website of the tax information Network of the Income Tax Department.
2.  Click on the tab Downloads.
3. Then select challan no 281 to download, and enter.
4. The file will open in a pdf viewer you have on your browser. 
5. Then, Click on the download symbol to download the file.
6. The file will be downloaded to your system.
7. Now, fill out the form and go to your bank branch. Pay the amount with the preferred payment method, which can be cash, card, UPI, or cheque.

8. The challan receipt will be given to you upon receiving the payment. Use it at the time of TDS return.

Proof of Payment of Challan

After you have paid the taxes through challan online or offline, the bank will give you a counterfoil stating that the payment was successful. You can see the following information: 

The Challan Identification Number (CIN).

The CIN is a combination of a 7-digit Bank Branch Code (BSR), a Challan serial number containing up to 5 digits and the date of tender of the challan.

The bank is obligated to report this information of tax payment to the NSDL website within 5 to 7 days of the payment.

How can I download challan No 280 after online payment? 

Once the payment is made, the bank generates a receipt, as discussed above. Here is another way to access the status of the challan.

To view and download Challan Status Inquiry (CSI) file for challans generated directly at www.incometax.gov.in, take these steps:

Go to the website www.incometax.gov.in and log in.

Navigate and click on the e-Pay Tax Service option.

Then, go to the Payment History tab.

There select date range in Filter options to get the challan paid in those date ranges.

Press Enter.

A list of all the challan filed and paid will appear. Download the copy of the CSI file by clicking on the download CSI file button.

This CSI file has all the information about the challan, which is the date of payment, CIN number, BSR code, and amount paid.

How do you reprint or regenerate challan 280 receipt?

If you have misplaced the counterfoil generated after the online payment of challan 280, then you can contact your bank. The banks provide the regeneration of electronic challan receipts. You can check it on their website. 

The banks that are authorized for the online payment service are Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, UCO Bank, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, Indian Bank, Central Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Indian Overseas Bank.

You can go to their website and look for the option labeled ‘regenerate challan’ or ‘regenerate receipt’.

For example, let’s see how to regenerate challan 280 counterfoil on the SBI website.

1. Go to the SBI website and log in to your account.
2. Among the various tabs, hover on the e-Tax tab and click on it.
3. From the sidebar menu options, click on Reprint Challan.
4. A dialogue box will appear. Fill out the start date and end date and press enter.
5. A list displaying the challan filed under those dates will appear.
6. Click on the challan ITNS No 280 and download the PDF.

How can I get the challan 281 receipts?

To get the challan 281 receipt, go to the bank website where you made the payment. There, log in to your account. Look for a menu labeled regenerate challan. Click on it and follow the steps to get the challan receipt.

Conclusion

An income tax payment challan is mandatory for the payment of any form of taxes. These challan forms are used to collect data about the taxpayer’s income and tax liability for a fiscal year. A TDS/TCS form no 280 is used and for filing non-TDS/TCS taxes form no 281 is used. The payment for both the challan can be done online and over the counter. A receipt or counterfoil is generated after the payment as proof of transaction. This proof is needed to be submitted at the time of filing the ITR. 

The article tries to answer most of the queries related to income tax payment of challan. For more information on TDS filing head to our blog section!

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