What is the new section number for TDS on salary?

Salary TDS moved from Section 192 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, to Section 392 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. The rate continues to be based on the applicable slab rate for the employee, and the trigger remains the date of actual salary payment.

What is the new section number for Section 194C?

Section 194C, which covered contractor payments, is now Section 393(1), Serial Number 6(i), under the Income-tax Act, 2025. The rate stays at 1% for individual or HUF payees and 2% for other payees, with the same ₹30,000 per payment and ₹1,00,000 aggregate thresholds.

What is the new section number for Section 194J?

Section 194J, covering professional and technical fees, is now Section 393(1), Serial Number 6(iii). The rate structure of 2% for fees for technical services, royalty for films and call centre operations, and 10% for other professional and technical fees, has been carried forward.

Do I use the old section or the new section for a payment credited in March 2026 but paid in April 2026?

Use the old section. The trigger event for non-salary payments is whichever happens first, credit or payment. Since the credit happened in March 2026, the old Income-tax Act, 1961 governs that transaction, and no fresh deduction is required when the actual payment is made in April.

Has the TDS rate changed along with the section number?

No, in almost every case the rate and threshold have stayed the same. The restructuring under the Income-tax Act, 2025 is a drafting simplification that consolidates the law into clearer tables. A small number of items show "rates in force," meaning the exact percentage still depends on the current Finance Act rather than a fixed number in the section itself.

Which TDS return form applies for the April to June 2026 quarter?

For Q1 of Tax Year 2026-27, use the new forms: Form 138 for salary TDS, Form 140 for non-salary TDS, Form 144 for non-resident payments, and Form 143 for TCS. These are all due by 31 July 2026.

Is there a single tool to look up any TDS section instantly?

Yes. Our TDS Section Finder lets you enter the payment type and the relevant date, and it returns the applicable section (old or new), the current rate, the threshold and the form you need to file, without you having to read through the full mapping table each time.

What happened to Form 15G and Form 15H?

Both have been replaced by a single Form 121 from 1 April 2026, prescribed under Rule 211 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 and backed by Section 393(6). One form now covers all eligible taxpayers regardless of age, where it previously needed two separate forms split by age group.

TDS Section Old vs New: The Complete 2025-26 List With Rates

If you searched for "TDS section old vs new," you are probably staring at a payment, a return, or a Form 16 with a section number you do not recognise anymore. You are not alone. Every TDS section under the Income-tax Act, 1961, from Section 192 on salary to Section 194S on virtual digital assets, has been replaced by a new section number under the Income-tax Act, 2025, effective 1 April 2026. This guide is the complete, verified mapping: every old section next to its new equivalent, with the rate and threshold that applies right now.

We built this page because the existing search results for this query are either incomplete, outdated, or buried inside long compliance articles you have to scroll through to find one number. Here, the table comes first.

Quick Answer: What Changed in TDS Sections

The Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the scattered TDS sections of the old law (192, 193, 194, 194A through 194T) with two consolidated provisions. Section 392 now covers TDS on salary, replacing the old Section 192. Section 393(1) covers every other category of TDS on payments to residents, organised as a single table with serial numbers instead of separate alphabetic sections. The rates and threshold limits have largely stayed the same. What changed is the section number you quote, the form number you file, and the structure of the law itself.

Key Facts Table

Item	Detail
Old law name	Income-tax Act, 1961
New law name	Income-tax Act, 2025
New law effective date	1 April 2026 (Tax Year 2026-27 onwards)
Old law still applies to	FY 2025-26 and all earlier years, including any sum credited or paid up to 31 March 2026
Salary TDS, old section	Section 192
Salary TDS, new section	Section 392
Non-salary TDS, old sections	193, 194, 194A to 194T (multiple separate sections)
Non-salary TDS, new section	Section 393(1), a single consolidated table
Trigger event	Earlier of credit to payee's account or actual payment (date of payment only, for salary)
Governing rule for transition	The Act in force on the date of the trigger event applies, not the date of filing

How to Find Your TDS Section: Step by Step

Identify the nature of the payment. Is it salary, rent, professional fees, contractor payment, commission, interest, or something else? This determines which row of the old or new table applies to you.
Check the date of the trigger event. For salary, this is the date of actual payment. For every other payment, it is whichever happens first: the date you credit the amount to the payee's account in your books, or the date you actually pay it.
Apply the law in force on that date. If the trigger event fell on or before 31 March 2026, use the old section number from the Income-tax Act, 1961. If it falls on or after 1 April 2026, use the new section number from the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Look up the matching section in the table below. Match the old section to its new equivalent and confirm the current rate and threshold.
Quote the correct section on your return, certificate and challan. Old-period corrections still go under the 1961 Act framework even after the new law commences. New-period filings must use the new section and the new form number.
Cross-check with our TDS Section Finder if you want an instant answer instead of working through the table manually. Enter the payment type and the date, and the tool returns the applicable section, rate and form.

Worked Example

Suppose your company pays a graphic designer (an individual, not a company) a professional fee of ₹80,000 for work delivered in March 2026, and the invoice is credited to her account in your books on 29 March 2026, with actual payment made on 6 April 2026.

Because the trigger event (credit) happened on 29 March 2026, which is before 1 April 2026, the old Act applies. You deduct TDS under Section 194J of the Income-tax Act, 1961, at 10% (professional fees), since the threshold of ₹50,000 has been crossed. TDS deducted = ₹8,000. This amount must be deposited by 30 April 2026 (the special non-government deductor deadline for March deductions), and reported in the old Form 26Q for Q4 FY 2025-26, due by 31 May 2026.

Now compare this to a near-identical case: the same fee, but the invoice is credited to her account on 2 April 2026 instead. Here the trigger event falls after 1 April 2026, so the new Act applies. You now quote Section 393(1), Sl. No. 6(iii) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, the rate stays 10%, but you deposit by 7 May 2026 and report it in the new Form 140 for Q1 Tax Year 2026-27, due by 31 July 2026.

The rate did not change. The threshold did not change. Only the section number, the deposit date, and the form number changed, because the trigger event crossed the 1 April 2026 boundary.

The Complete TDS Section Mapping Table

This is the core reference. Every common TDS category, old section next to new, with the current rate and threshold for FY 2025-26 / Tax Year 2026-27.

Payment Category	Old Section (Act, 1961)	New Section (Act, 2025)	Rate	Threshold
Salary	192	392	Slab rate	Basic exemption limit
Interest on securities	193	393(1) Sl. No. 5(i)	Rates in force	₹10,000
Dividend	194	393(1) Sl. No. 7	10%	Nil
Bank / post office / co-op interest	194A	393(1) Sl. No. 5(ii)	Rates in force	₹1,00,000 (senior citizen) / ₹50,000 (others)
Other interest (non-banking)	194A	393(1) Sl. No. 5(iii)	Rates in force	₹10,000
Contractor payments	194C	393(1) Sl. No. 6(i)	1% (individual/HUF payee) / 2% (others)	₹30,000 per payment, ₹1,00,000 aggregate
Insurance commission	194D	393(1) Sl. No. 1(i)	Rates in force	₹20,000
Life insurance policy payout	194DA	393(1) Sl. No. 8(i)	2%	₹1,00,000
Commission / brokerage (non-insurance)	194H	393(1) Sl. No. 1(ii)	2%	₹20,000
Rent (non-specified person)	194I	393(1) Sl. No. 2(i)	2% (plant/machinery) / 10% (land/building)	₹50,000 per month
Rent by specified individual/HUF	194IB	393(1) Sl. No. 2(ii)	2% (plant/machinery) / 10% (land/building)	₹50,000 per month
Transfer of immovable property	194IA	393(1) Sl. No. 3(i)	1% of higher of consideration or stamp duty value	₹50 lakh
Mutual fund / specified unit income	194K	393(1) Sl. No. 4(i)	10%	₹10,000
Compensation on compulsory acquisition	194LA	393(1) Sl. No. 3(iii)	10%	₹5,00,000
Business trust distribution	194LBA	393(1) Sl. No. 4(ii)	10%	Nil
Investment fund income	194LBB	393(1) Sl. No. 4(iii)	10%	Nil
Securitisation trust income	194LBC	393(1) Sl. No. 4(iv)	10%	Nil
Individual/HUF contractor/professional/commission	194M	393(1) Sl. No. 6(ii)	2%	₹50,00,000
E-commerce operator payments	194O	393(1) Sl. No. 8(v)	0.1% of gross sale/service value	Nil
Specified senior citizen income	194P	393(1) Sl. No. 8(iii)	Rates in force	As applicable
Purchase of goods above ₹50 lakh	194Q	393(1) Sl. No. 8(ii)	0.1%	Amount exceeding ₹50,00,000
Benefit or perquisite from business	194R	393(1) Sl. No. 8(iv)	10%	₹20,000
Professional / technical fees, royalty	194J	393(1) Sl. No. 6(iii)	2% (FTS, royalty for films, call centre) / 10% (others)	₹50,000 (most categories)
Transfer of Virtual Digital Asset	194S	393(1) Sl. No. 8(vi)	1%	Nil

Where the table shows "Rates in force," the operative percentage is not a fixed figure in the section itself. It is determined by the relevant Finance Act for the year, so always cross-check the current Finance Act before deducting.

TDS Forms: Old Number vs New Number

It is not just sections that changed. Every TDS return and certificate now carries a new form number too. Filing the old form for a Tax Year 2026-27 transaction, or vice versa, will get rejected at the portal level.

Purpose	Old Form	New Form
Salary TDS return	Form 24Q	Form 138
Non-salary TDS return	Form 26Q	Form 140
Non-resident TDS return	Form 27Q	Form 144
TCS return	Form 27EQ	Form 143
Salary TDS certificate	Form 16	Form 130
Non-salary TDS certificate	Form 16A	Form 131
Lower / nil deduction certificate	Form 13	Form 128
TDS exemption declaration (replaces 15G/15H)	Forms 15G and 15H	Form 121

Why the Section Numbers Changed at All

The Income-tax Act, 1961, had been amended so many times over six decades that its TDS provisions were scattered across more than 20 separate sections, each with its own provisos, explanations and cross-references. Section 194 alone had sub-clauses bolted on over different Finance Acts. The Income-tax Act, 2025, was drafted to present the same substantive rules in a cleaner, tabular format. Instead of reading through 194A, 194C, 194D, 194H, 194I and a dozen others separately, you now read one table under Section 393(1) with serial numbers for each category. The total number of sections in the Act dropped from 819 to 536, and the number of forms nearly halved, from 399 to 190. This was a drafting and structural simplification, not a change in tax policy. Rates and thresholds were carried forward almost unchanged.

Practical Mistakes to Avoid During the Transition Year

Quoting the old section for a Tax Year 2026-27 payment. If you credit or pay an amount on or after 1 April 2026, you must use the new Section 393(1) table reference, not the old section number, even if your accounting software still shows the old labels out of habit.

Filing corrections for old periods under new forms. Correction statements for Q1 to Q4 of FY 2025-26 or any earlier year must still be filed under the old Income-tax Act, 1961 framework, using the old forms 24Q, 26Q or 27Q, even after 1 April 2026.

Forgetting that salary uses the payment date, not the credit date. Every non-salary payment uses the earlier of credit or payment. Salary alone is different: it is governed strictly by the date of actual payment. A March 2026 salary paid on 2 April 2026 falls under the new Act, not the old one, because payment happened after the cutoff.

Assuming TDS credit shows in one place. TDS deducted in March 2026 or earlier reflects in Form 26AS for AY 2026-27. TDS deducted from April 2026 onward reflects in the new Form 168 for Tax Year 2026-27. If your TDS spans both periods, expect the credit to be split across two documents when you file.

For the complete transition rules, including the six most common credit-versus-payment scenarios and the dual filing calendar for FY 2026-27, see our detailed guide on the new TDS rules from April 2026.

Connecting TDS to Your GST Compliance

If you run a GST-registered business, your TDS obligations and your GST filings intersect more often than you might expect. When you raise a service invoice and show GST separately from the service value, TDS is deducted only on the service value, not on the GST component, under the principle confirmed in CBDT Circular No. 23/2017 and carried forward under the new framework. This only holds if your invoice clearly separates the two figures. Use our GST Calculator to work out the exact CGST, SGST or IGST split on an invoice before you compute the TDS base, and run every vendor's GSTIN through our GSTIN Validator before processing a payment, since a fake or cancelled GSTIN can cost you your entire input tax credit even if the TDS portion was deducted correctly.

If you are filing a TDS exemption declaration for non-salary income such as bank interest, dividend or rent, the relevant form from April 2026 is Form 121, which has merged Form 15G and Form 15H into a single declaration. We cover the eligibility conditions and the income-limit test for Form 121 in full in our Form 121 complete guide.

A Note on Accuracy

Tax law numbering changes are exactly the kind of detail where a single transposed digit causes real compliance problems, whether that means a TDS return rejected at the portal level or a wrong section quoted on a certificate handed to a vendor. The mapping above reflects the section structure confirmed in the official transition FAQ published by the Income Tax Department and the text of the Income-tax Act, 2025 as enacted. Where a rate is described as "rates in force," confirm the exact percentage against the Finance Act applicable for the relevant year before you deduct, since these are not fixed numbers written into the section.

References

Income Tax Department, Government of India, Tax Payments and TDS transition FAQ: incometax.gov.in
Income Tax Department, Section 234B and Section 234C text: incometaxindia.gov.in
CBDT Circular No. 23/2017 on TDS treatment of GST shown separately on invoices

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TDS Section Old vs New List 2025-26 with Rates