Contractor / Professional TDS — Form 141 Schedule C

Income-tax Act, 2025, Section 393(1) — Form 141, Schedule C (Contractor/Professional Payment TDS):
With effect from 1 April 2026, the erstwhile Section 194M mechanism under the Income-tax Act, 1961 — under which an individual/HUF not otherwise liable to deduct tax under Sections 194C/194H/194J (i.e., not subject to tax audit) had to deduct TDS on contractual work, professional fees, commission or brokerage payments to a resident exceeding ₹50 lakh in a financial year, reported via Form 26QD — is consolidated into Form 141, Schedule C, filed within 30 days from the end of the month of deduction, under the same unified challan-cum-statement framework that also covers property, rent, and VDA-transfer TDS (Schedules B, A, and D respectively).
This pathway applies to resident payees; payments to non-resident contractors/professionals continue to fall under the separate non-resident withholding-tax provisions of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and are not reported via Form 141/Schedule C.
As with the other Form 141 schedules, the deductor must obtain/use the prescribed TAN or PAN-based challan-cum-statement route, deduct tax at the applicable rate at the time of payment/credit (whichever is earlier), and issue the corresponding TDS certificate to the payee after filing.

Individuals and HUFs may need to deduct and report TDS on high-value payments to resident contractors or professionals under Section 393(1) [Table Sl. No. 6(ii)]. We assist with applicability review, PAN validation, Form 141 Schedule C filing and certificate follow-up.