Tax collected at source deadline bars prosecution if payment is made by the prescribed statement-filing time. A proviso is added excluding the penal provision for failure to pay tax collected at source where such tax has been paid to the credit of the Central Government on or before the time prescribed for filing the statement under the proviso to sub-section (3) of the collection-at-source provision; the amendment ties avoidance of criminal liability to payment made by the statement-filing deadline and takes effect from 1st April, 2025.