Form 15G is a self-declaration under the Indian Income Tax Act that tells a bank or other payer not to deduct Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) from certain income paid to you. You file it when your total tax liability for the financial year works out to nil, so you keep your full interest or other earnings up front instead of waiting to claim a refund later. It is available to resident individuals under sixty, Hindu Undivided Families, and certain trusts.
Who Can File Form 15G
Section 197A of the Income Tax Act sets two financial conditions. The total income covered by all your Form 15G declarations during the financial year cannot exceed the basic exemption limit. And your estimated tax on total income from every source for the whole year must be nil.
Alongside those, there are three identity-based requirements:
- You must be a resident of India. Non-resident Indians cannot use Form 15G on any income earned in India.
- You must be under sixty during the relevant financial year. Anyone sixty or above uses Form 15H.
- You must be an individual, a Hindu Undivided Family, or a qualifying trust. Companies and partnership firms cannot file.
What “Basic Exemption Limit” Means Here
The limit depends on which tax regime you follow. Under the old regime, individuals under sixty are exempt up to ₹2,50,000. Under the new regime, which is now the default for most taxpayers, the limit is ₹3,00,000 for Assessment Year 2025-26.1Income Tax Department. Salaried Individuals for AY 2025-26 The income that has to stay under this limit is specifically the income covered by your Form 15G declarations, not your total income from every source.
That distinction matters. You can have total income above the exemption limit and still file Form 15G, as long as the specific income you’re declaring stays under the threshold and your final tax works out to zero after deductions and rebates.2The Economic Times. You Can Submit Form 15G/Form 15H Even if Your Total Income Exceeds Tax-Exempt Level Someone earning ₹4,50,000 in salary and ₹35,000 in fixed deposit interest, whose total tax comes to nil after deductions, can still file Form 15G for that interest.
The Nil-Tax-Liability Test and Section 87A
The nil-liability requirement is easier to meet than it sounds once you factor in the rebate under Section 87A. For FY 2025-26 under the new regime, taxpayers with taxable income up to ₹12,00,000 are eligible for a rebate of up to ₹60,000, which wipes out their entire tax bill. Many more people qualify for Form 15G than the basic exemption limit alone would suggest. What matters is the final calculated tax, after every rebate and deduction, coming to zero.
What Kinds of Income Form 15G Covers
The most common use is stopping TDS on interest from bank fixed deposits and recurring deposits, which falls under Section 194A. For FY 2025-26, banks and post offices deduct TDS on interest above ₹50,000 per year for non-senior residents, up from ₹40,000 in prior years. Filing Form 15G stops that deduction before it happens.
Other income where Form 15G applies:
- EPF withdrawals under Section 192A. Withdrawing from the Employees’ Provident Fund before completing five years of service triggers TDS at 10% when the withdrawal is ₹30,000 or more. Form 15G avoids the deduction.3Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation. TDS Flow Chart Instructions
- Interest on corporate bonds and debentures under Section 193.
- Dividend income from shares and mutual funds under Section 194, once the applicable threshold is crossed.
- Certain taxable maturity proceeds from life insurance policies under Section 194DA.
- Rental income under Section 194-I in situations where the rent is subject to TDS.
- Interest on post office deposits, which follows the same Section 194A rules as bank deposits.
Each of these has its own TDS threshold. Form 15G does not change the thresholds; it tells the payer your total tax liability is nil, so withholding is unnecessary.
Form 15G Compared With Form 15H
The two forms do the same job but for different people. Form 15G is for residents under sixty. Form 15H is for senior citizens aged sixty and above.4Press Information Bureau. Sub-Section (1C) of Section 197A of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 There is one practical difference: Form 15H only requires that estimated tax on total income be nil. It does not carry the second condition capping the declared income at the basic exemption limit, which makes it accessible to seniors with considerably higher interest income than Form 15G permits for younger filers.
How to Fill Out Form 15G
The form has two parts. Part I is what you complete. Part II is filled in by the deductor (the bank, the EPF office, or whoever is paying the income). You can download it from the Income Tax Department’s e-filing portal or from your bank’s website.5Central Bank of India. Form No 15G
The fields that matter most in Part I:
- PAN. Your Permanent Account Number is mandatory. Without a valid PAN, the institution deducts TDS at 20% regardless of whether you file the form.
- Assessment year. This is the year after the financial year in which you earn the income. For FY 2025-26, the assessment year is 2026-27.
- Estimated income for this declaration. The income from the specific source you’re filing about, such as interest from one bank’s fixed deposits.
- Estimated total income from all sources. Your aggregate income for the year across salary, interest, rent, and everything else. The tax department uses this figure to verify your nil-liability claim.
- Previous Form 15G filings during the year. The number of declarations already submitted and the total income they cover.5Central Bank of India. Form No 15G
The two income figures trip people up regularly. Get them wrong and the bank may reject the form, or the tax department may flag a discrepancy later. If you have deposits at multiple banks, each one gets its own Form 15G, but the total-income figure should be consistent across all of them.
When to Submit and How Long It Lasts
File Form 15G at the start of each financial year, ideally in April, so no TDS is taken from your first interest credit. Wait until mid-year and any TDS already deducted on earlier payments won’t be reversed; you’d have to claim it back when you file your return.
Most banks accept the form through net banking or their mobile apps, which is fast and generates an instant acknowledgment. You can also hand in a signed hard copy at a branch. Either way, the bank should confirm receipt and update your account profile.
Form 15G is valid for one financial year only. It expires on March 31. A new form is required at the start of each new year if you still meet the eligibility rules. There is no rollover, and forgetting to refile means the bank resumes TDS the moment the next year’s first interest payment lands. This catches people out more than it should: someone files once, sees TDS disappear, and assumes it’s permanent.
Banks also credit interest quarterly or at maturity. If you open a new fixed deposit or renew one mid-year, submit a fresh Form 15G covering that deposit; the earlier form won’t automatically extend to new account or deposit details.
You can check whether a submitted form has been accepted on the e-filing portal. After logging in, go to e-File, then Income Tax Forms, then View Filed Forms.6Income Tax Department. View Filed Forms User Manual
If Your Income Changes After You File
If your income rises above what you estimated, and your actual tax liability is no longer zero, act quickly. Submit a withdrawal application at every branch where you filed a Form 15G, explaining the change and giving the corrected figures. If the withdrawal is slow to process, pay the additional tax through advance tax to stay compliant and avoid interest or penalties. Leaving a stale Form 15G in place after your income changes is where the real legal exposure begins.
Penalties for a False Declaration
Filing Form 15G when you know you don’t qualify is not just a paperwork issue. Section 277 of the Income Tax Act treats false statements in tax declarations as a criminal offense:7BareLaws. Section 277 – False Statement in Verification, Etc – The Income-Tax Act, 1961
- Where the tax evaded exceeds ₹25,00,000: rigorous imprisonment of six months to seven years, plus a fine.
- In all other cases: rigorous imprisonment of three months to two years, plus a fine.
The financial penalties often exceed the tax originally at stake. Prosecution may be unlikely for small amounts, but the department does flag patterns of repeated false declarations. If your income is close to the eligibility boundary, run the numbers carefully before you file.
Who Cannot Use Form 15G
Companies and partnership firms are excluded entirely, whatever their tax position. Non-resident Indians cannot use Form 15G or Form 15H on Indian income; NRIs fall under separate TDS rules, and the route to lower withholding is a Section 197 certificate rather than a self-declaration. Anyone sixty or above should use Form 15H. If you turn sixty during a financial year, which form applies can depend on your age at the start of that year, and some banks apply the cutoff strictly.