Wrong TDS Year? Fix Your Challan in 3 Steps

If you paid TDS challan for the wrong assessment year, the Income Tax Department allows you to shift it to the correct year — but only within a one-year window on either side. Here is what you need to do.

Here's what happened: The Income Tax Department has clarified that a TDS challan deposited against the wrong assessment year can be corrected within a ±1 year window using the TRACES portal.. The correction facility allows the deductor — typically your employer or the party that deducted tax — to remap the challan to the right assessment year before the window expires.. Without this correction, the deductee's Form 26AS shows a mismatch, which can trigger ITR scrutiny and delay tax refunds indefinitely..

What you should do: Check your Form 26AS or AIS on the Income Tax portal to spot any TDS challan mapped to a year that does not match your return period.. If you are an employer or deductor, log in to TRACES immediately and raise a challan correction request if any challan carries a wrong assessment year tag.. Contact your company's payroll or accounts team before the next ITR filing to confirm all TDS challans for FY 2024-25 are mapped correctly to AY 2025-26..

Even a correctly paid TDS amount causes a refund hold if the assessment year field is wrong — always cross-check the AY on your challan counterfoil against your ITR acknowledgement year before filing.

For readers weighing their credit and loan options, our personal loan guide and CIBIL score resources put this update in context.