Letter to ask a client for your TDS certificate

My client deducted TDS from my fees but has not given me a TDS certificate. What do I write?

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Section 395(4)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 provides that every person deducting tax shall issue a certificate to the deductee specifying the amount of tax deducted, the rate and any other prescribed particulars, within the period prescribed. For tax deducted from 1 April 2026, rule 215 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 sets that period.

For fees paid by a company, firm or other specified person, the certificate is Form 131, due within fifteen days from the due date of the quarterly statement of tax deducted at source. That works out to 15 August for April to June, 15 November for July to September, 15 February for October to December and 15 June for January to March. Rule 215(1) says the client generates and downloads the certificate from the web portal specified by the Director General of Income-tax (Systems).

The letter lists each payment with its invoice, the amount received and the tax deducted, names the quarter and the date the certificate was due, and asks for Form 131 within the number of days you choose from receiving the letter. It can be sent only after that date has passed. It mentions the penalty in section 465(2)(g) as the Act states it and does not say the penalty will be imposed.

What you get

TDS certificate request letter, as a Word file to edit and a PDF to print

Example with made-up names

Request for TDS certificate

Date: 24 October 2026

From: Anika Rao, 8 Lake View Road, Pune, Maharashtra 411001. PAN: ABCPR1234F.

To: Harbor Lane Logistics Private Limited, Unit 4, Park Avenue, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400051.

Client TAN: MUMH12345A

Kind attention: The Accounts Head

Subject: Request for the TDS certificate for the quarter April to June 2026

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing about tax that Harbor Lane Logistics Private Limited deducted at source from payments made to me between 12 May 2026 and 18 June 2026. I have not received a certificate for this tax. The payments and the tax deducted, as I understand them, are below.

No.	Date of payment	Invoice number	Amount received (after TDS)	TDS deducted
1	12 May 2026	AR/26/014	₹90,000	₹10,000
2	18 June 2026	AR/26/019	₹45,000	₹5,000

Section 395(4)(a) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 provides that every person deducting tax shall issue a certificate to the deductee specifying the amount of tax deducted, the rate at which it was deducted and any other particulars as may be prescribed, within the period prescribed.

Rule 215 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 prescribes Form 131 for a deduction of this kind, to be furnished within fifteen days from the due date for furnishing the statement of tax deducted at source under rule 219. For the quarter April to June 2026 the statement is due on 31 July 2026, so the certificate was due on 15 August 2026. Rule 215(1) provides that the certificate is furnished after generating and downloading it from the web portal specified by the Director General of Income-tax (Systems).

Please issue the certificate in Form 131 for the quarter April to June 2026 within 15 days of receiving this letter, and send it to me at the address above. If you have already issued it, please send me a copy and treat this letter as sent in error. If any entry in the table differs from your records, please tell me in writing so that I can correct it.

For information, section 465(2)(g) of the Act provides a penalty of Rs. 500 for every day during which the failure to furnish a certificate under section 395(4) continues, and section 465(3)(b) provides that the penalty shall not exceed the amount of tax deductible.

Yours sincerely,

Anika Rao

Fill in your own

You, the person who was paid

Your name, or your business name *

Your address *

Your PAN *The PAN the client deducted tax under.

The client that deducted the tax

Client's business name *

Client's address *

Person to address the letter toThe name or designation, such as the accounts head or a director. Leave it empty if you have no one in mind.

Client's TANPrinted on the deduction slip or the client's invoice terms. Leave it empty if you do not have it.

The quarter and the payments

Quarter in which the tax was deducted *

Tax year 2026-27 only. Not for a client that is an individual or HUF whose business turnover in the previous tax year was not above one crore rupees, or whose professional receipts were not above fifty lakh rupees (Table Sl. 6(ii)): that certificate is Form 132 and falls on a different date.

Date of the earliest deduction in the table below *It must fall in the quarter you chose.

Date of the latest deduction in the table below *It must fall in the quarter you chose.

Payments and the tax deducted *

Payment 1

Date of payment *Must fall in the quarter you chose.

Invoice number *

Amount received (after TDS) *The amount that reached you, after the deduction.

TDS deducted *

The letter and who signs it

Date on the letter *Today, or any day in the next seven days. The date the certificate was due must already have passed.

Days you give the client to issue it *A whole number from 1 to 30. The letter says within this many days of receiving it.

Write the letter as *

Name of the person who signs *

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Common questions

Can I send the letter before the due date?

The form refuses a letter dated on or before the date the certificate was due. For April to June 2026 it was due on 15 August 2026. A client that is still inside the period has not yet missed the date in rule 215.

What if the tax was deducted before 1 April 2026?

Tax deducted in the year ending 31 March 2026 stays under the Income-tax Act, 1961, and its certificate is Form 16A under the older Rules. This letter does not cover it, and BuildWright has not checked those Rules for this document.

Does the letter say I will get the penalty?

No. Section 465(2)(g) of the Act provides a penalty of Rs. 500 for every day a failure to furnish the certificate continues, and section 465(3)(b) says it shall not exceed the tax deductible. The letter quotes that provision for information. Whether a penalty is imposed is for the tax authority to decide.

My client is an individual or a HUF. Can I use this letter?

Not when the client deducted under the entry for contractor and professional payments by an individual or HUF whose business turnover in the previous tax year was not above one crore rupees, or whose professional receipts were not above fifty lakh rupees (Table Sl. 6(ii)). That certificate is Form 132 and falls fifteen days after a different statement date, so the dates in this letter would be wrong.

Source: Income-tax Act, 2025, section 395(4)(a): the duty to issue a certificate of tax deducted, with the period as prescribed. Read 24 October 2026. The Act commences on 1 April 2026 (section 1(3)). The text read is the Act as amended by the Finance Act 2026; the amendments touch section 395(1)(c) and add section 395(6), with no change to sub-section (4).
Source: Income-tax Rules, 2026, rule 215(1): Form 131 within fifteen days from the due date of the statement under rule 219; rule 219(4): quarterly statement due dates. Read 24 October 2026. Notified as G.S.R. 198(E) dated 20 March 2026 under section 533 of the Act; rule 1(2) brings them into force on 1 April 2026. The certificate dates of 15 August, 15 November, 15 February and 15 June are BuildWright's arithmetic from rules 215 and 219.
Source: Income-tax Act, 2025, section 465(2)(g) and 465(3)(b): penalty of Rs. 500 a day for failing to furnish a certificate under section 395(4), capped at the tax deductible. Read 24 October 2026. Same Act and commencement as above.
Source: Income-tax Act, 2025, section 536(2): tax years beginning before 1 April 2026 stay under the 1961 Act, which is why this letter covers deductions from 1 April 2026 only. Read 18 October 2026. Same Act and commencement as above.

Work out the figures firstUse the TDS Rate Finder. It is free and nothing you enter is stored.