TDS Section 194M — Payment by individual/HUF for contractor/professional
FY 2025-26 · Rate 2% (reduced from 5% by Finance Act 2024, effective Oct 2024)
What does this section cover?
TDS on payment by individual/HUF (not subject to tax audit) to contractor (194C-type) or professional (194J-type) above ₹50 lakh.
Why this section: Catches personal high-value spends (home renovation, wedding builder) — individuals not under audit who pay > ₹50L to a contractor/professional must deduct 2% via Form 26QD.
Key facts
- Threshold
- ₹50,00,000 aggregate per FY per payee
- Applicable for
- FY 2025-26
- Who deducts
- Individual / HUF (not under tax audit)
- Paid to
- Contractor / professional
- Statutory source
- Section 194M, Income Tax Act
Common terms accountants use
If your description mentions any of these, Section 194M is likely the right answer. The matcher in this tool is a keyword scorer — not an AI classifier — so cross-check borderline cases against the official CBDT TDS rate chart.
Related TDS sections
Other sections in the same series or adjacent. Useful when narrowing down between similar payment categories.
Need a different section?
Describe the payment in plain English — “rent of plant”, “senior citizen interest”, “NRI dividend” — and the matcher will surface the right section.
Search TDS sections →Source: curated from the CBDT TDS rate chart. Dataset snapshot: 2025-04-01. Rates can change between Finance Acts and notifications — verify before deducting.