Claim every rupee back.
Clients deduct TDS all year; most of it quietly leaks. HourSlip logs every deduction against its invoice and reconciles Form 168 on a 4-state board — Matched, Pending, Mismatch, Unmatched — worked until everything is green before you file.
Why a tenth of your
income disappears.
Once a company client pays you more than ₹50,000 in professional fees in a year, it has to withhold TDS before paying you. It's not lost — it's parked against your PAN. But if you never track it, you never claim it, and it stays with the government.
The trap isn't the deduction — it's forgetting the ₹10,000 exists. Most freelancers under-report their TDS credits and quietly overpay tax every single year.
Ten sections,
picked for you.
You never type a section code. HourSlip reads who's paying you and how, and applies the right one — with the right rate. Most freelancers only ever meet three or four. We carry all ten, so the rare one that shows up in your 26AS still reconciles.
The 4-state
reconciliation worksheet.
Every deduction you log is checked against the matching 26AS line and sorted into one of four states. You work the board until everything's green — then the FY total is one you can defend.
Client deposited ₹500 less than they deducted. HourSlip flags it so you chase the deductor — not the refund you'd have lost.
Got a Section 197
certificate?
Apply it once.
If your income doesn't justify 10% withholding, the Assessing Officer can issue a Section 197 certificate (s.395(1) of the Income-tax Act 2025 from 1 April 2026) at a lower rate. Drop it on a client once — every future invoice for that client deducts at the certified rate automatically, and open invoices the client has not yet booked or paid pick it up too. Amounts the client credited before the certificate's start date stay at the normal rate.
- ›Per-client — Each certificate binds to one deductor and its validity window.
- ›From its start date — Applies to payments the client books or makes on or after the certificate date.
- ›Audit-safe — The certificate number prints on the invoice so the deductor can match it.
It all reconciles to
your 26AS at filing.
When March comes, your whole year is already reconciled. The FY total — broken down by section — carries straight into your return as a tax credit. This is money back in your pocket, not a line you forgot.
TDS, in plain terms.
What freelancers ask us before they start tracking the tax their clients withhold.
- TDS — Tax Deducted at Source — is income tax your client withholds before paying you and deposits with the government against your PAN. It's not a charge; it's an advance on your own tax. For most freelancers it's 10% under Section 194J. You claim it back (or set it off) when you file your ITR.
- 194J covers professional fees (10%) — legal, medical, engineering, architecture, accountancy, technical consultancy, interior decoration, advertising and notified professions — and fees for technical services that are not professional services (2%), once a client pays you more than ₹50,000 a year under either. Design, development and writing can fall under the 10% rate, the 2% rate or 194C, depending on what the contract supplies. 194C is for contract/works (production, events, builds) at 1–2%. HourSlip shows the section options and the applicable rate for each; it suggests 194J and lets you confirm or change it per deductor.
- It derives it from the invoice. When a payment lands short of the gross, HourSlip computes the expected deduction from the section and rate, logs it as a receivable against that invoice, and waits to match it to your 26AS — so you don't enter a single figure by hand.
- Yes — import your 26AS CSV and HourSlip places each entry into one of four states: Matched, Pending, Mismatch or Unmatched. You review and work the board manually until it's green. The auto-match engine is on the roadmap; for now the four-state worksheet gives you the full picture to present to your CA.
- If 10% withholding is more than your actual tax liability, the Assessing Officer can issue a Section 197 lower-deduction certificate. Drop it on a client once and every future invoice for that client deducts at the certified rate automatically, and open invoices the client has not yet booked or paid pick it up too. Amounts the client credited before the start date on the certificate stay at the normal rate.
- It surfaces exactly how much TDS you're owed, fully reconciled, before you file — so it lands in your ITR as a credit instead of being forgotten. If your TDS credits exceed your tax payable, the difference comes back as a refund. The tracking is what makes the claim possible.
