If you buy a house, flat or plot in India for ₹50 lakh or more, the law makes you, the buyer, deduct 1 percent tax at source from the seller and deposit it with the government using Form 26QB. Miss it and the interest and penalties land on you, not the seller.
Quick answer: Under Section 194-IA, a buyer of immovable property worth ₹50 lakh or more must deduct 1 percent TDS, deposit it within 30 days from the end of the month of payment using Form 26QB, and then give the seller Form 16B from TRACES. No TAN is needed, only your PAN.
Form 26QB is the online challan-cum-statement a property buyer files to deposit the 1 percent TDS deducted under Section 194-IA. It works as both the tax payment challan and the return, so no separate quarterly TDS filing is required for the transaction.
The rule sits in Section 194-IA of the Income-tax Act, 1961. It says that any person buying immovable property, other than agricultural land, from a resident seller for ₹50 lakh or more must deduct tax at 1 percent of the sale consideration or the stamp duty value, whichever is higher. The deductor is the buyer, not the seller, and the authority that runs the system is the Income Tax Department through its e-filing portal and the TRACES system.
The deducted amount must reach the Central Government within 30 days from the end of the month in which the deduction is made, along with the challan-cum-statement in Form 26QB. If the seller does not give a valid PAN, the rate jumps from 1 percent to 20 percent, so collecting the seller PAN first is not optional.
One important 2026 change you must know: under the new Income-tax Act, 2025, the Income Tax Department has merged Form 26QB, 26QC, 26QD and 26QE into a single unified Form 141 filed under Section 393(1). Per the department's own TDS compliance guidance, for transactions where the payment or credit happened on or before 31 March 2026 the old Form 26QB continues to apply, and for payment or credit on or after 1 April 2026 the new Form 141 applies instead. Form 141 is also PAN-based with the same 30-day window.
Real-life example: Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak bought a flat in Patna district for ₹72 lakh, paying the seller on 14 March 2026. Because the price crossed ₹50 lakh, he deducted 1 percent, that is ₹72,000, and deposited it using Form 26QB on the income tax portal on 6 April 2026, well inside the 30-day window from the end of March. He then logged in to TRACES, downloaded Form 16B, and handed it to the seller on 18 April 2026. His total out-of-pocket compliance cost was zero beyond the tax itself, because no TAN, agent or fee was required.
The buyer. Section 194-IA makes the purchaser of the property responsible for deducting 1 percent and depositing it with the government through Form 26QB. The seller only receives the net amount and later the Form 16B certificate.
No. Form 26QB, and the new Form 141 from 1 April 2026, are filed using the buyer PAN. You do not need a Tax Deduction Account Number, which makes this a one-off filing any individual can do.
The TDS must be deposited within 30 days from the end of the month in which the payment or credit was made, along with Form 26QB. For example, for a payment in March, the deadline falls in April.
The TDS rate rises from 1 percent to 20 percent on the sale consideration. Always collect and verify the seller PAN before deducting, or you, the buyer, will have to deduct the higher amount.
No. Section 194-IA specifically excludes agricultural land. Sales of rural agricultural land do not attract this 1 percent TDS, regardless of value.
One Form 26QB for each installment. The TDS is deducted on every payment, so a separate challan-cum-statement is required each time, each within 30 days from the end of that month.
After the 26QB payment is processed, log in to TRACES with your PAN, go to Downloads, choose Form 16B for Buyer, enter the seller PAN and the 26QB acknowledgement number, then download and give the certificate to the seller.
Yes, partly. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025 the department merged Form 26QB and its sister forms into a unified Form 141 under Section 393(1). Form 26QB applies for payment or credit on or before 31 March 2026, and Form 141 applies from 1 April 2026.